THOUSANDS of fines for breaches of coronavirus regulations were handed out by police across Hampshire, figures show.

Figures published by the National Police Chiefs' Council show 2,712 fixed penalty notices were issued by Hampshire Constabulary between March 27 2020 and December 19 last year.

Of these, 65 were recorded from May 17 2021, when different households were allowed to mix indoors for the first time following several months of lockdown.

Hampshire Constabulary has said that enforcement was used as a "last resort".

A spokesperson told the Daily Echo: "Throughout the pandemic, our approach has been to engage, explain and encourage people to comply with the restrictions, and that will continue.

“Enforcement has been used as a last resort, with action taken where we have seen blatant breaches."

Since that date, some forces have revised down their total number of fines, while others have issued hundreds.

FPNs can be rescinded following a review or cancelled altogether if multiple were issued in error, leading to some areas seeing a fall in the number of fines over time.

Across England and Wales, 124,581 fines have been issued by the 43 territorial police forces, British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence for alleged breaches of Covid-19-related laws since the pandemic began.