THE chief constable of Dorset Police said the police will move more quickly to prosecute and give fines to people flouting coronavirus lockdown rules.

James Vaughan, chief constable, thanked the community for adhering to the lockdown restrictions, but said police were “ready” to enforce the rules.

Mr Vaughan said: “We have been in lockdown since January 6, the third lockdown ten months into one of the most difficult years in all of our lifetimes but there has been incredibly high levels of compliance.

“We are going to move more quickly to prosecute and give fines to those who deliberately flout the rules.

“If you travel to Dorset from London or Coventry for example, you are going to get a ticket.

“Nobody will be able to convince me that travelling 100 miles is local.

“We are going to focus more robustly on house parties, they are dangerous. If you have a house party you will be fined.”

Last weekend, a number of people were arrested after police stopped a protest in Bournemouth.

And Mr Vaughan police would be working to disrupt any protests planned this weekend.

“We are monitoring social media lines, gathering intelligence, we are not seeing any strong intelligence to suggest people will be protesting this weekend,” he continued.

“It seems a lot of people have decided to do the right thing while we get through third peak.

“I have planned an operation already, if people do come, we will disrupt it, issue fines and if necessary make arrests. They are putting themselves and the wider public at risk.”

Mr Vaughan also said officers were ready to help supermarkets deal with people refusing to wear masks in their stores.

Overall, however, the chief constable thanked the public for following the rules.

“I am absolutely blown over by how fantastic the public in Dorset are.

“They need to continue to dig in, dig deep, find further resolve to see us through.

“The police are here to help, we are open for business, the public should still call us to report a crime.”