POLICE and council officers have carried out a series of visits to check compliance with national coronavirus safety measures at shops in Leicester.
Officers from Leicester City Council’s regulatory services team carried out the operations on Wednesday, December 9, and Friday, December 11, at stores in Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre and in Leicester city centre, in order to see whether the correct measures were in place to enable social distancing and wearing of face coverings.
Under the current Government rules, face coverings must be worn inside shops and supermarkets, and also within shopping malls and centres.
Premises where face coverings are required are expected to take reasonable steps to ensure people comply with the law.
The city council is responsible for working with business to ensure they have suitable regulations in place to ensure customers’ safety within the coronavirus regulations. The police can take action against members of the public who do not comply with this law without a valid exemption, including enforcement powers involving fines of up to £200 for the first offence.
While Wednesday’s visit focused on stores and shoppers at Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre, Friday’s work concentrated on city centre streets including Belgrave Gate, Churchgate, High Street, Loseby Lane, Gallowtree Gate, Humberstone Gate and Granby Street.
Joint visits by police and officers from the city council’s food safety and public safety teams were made to a total of 64 businesses, including hair, beauty, retail and food outlets. In all, 45 required additional posters stating the need for face coverings, and follow-up visits and additional advice due to be made to eight of them.
At the 26 food outlets which were visited, officers dealt with 18 instances of staff not correctly wearing face coverings, and seven cases of customers not wearing face coverings correctly.
