A Colchester man who travel 80 miles with his children to see seals in Norfolk despite the lockdown has been fined by police.

Officers in Norfolk say they stopped and fined more than 30 people who were flouting Covid-19 restrictions.

They had increased patrols over the weekend to make sure people were adhering to the lockdown rules to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Police issued 31 fixed penalty notices on Saturday and Sunday while 96 people were given warnings.

Fines were predominantly issued in coastal areas of the county to people who were mixing households or those who had travelled some distance to exercise.

This included fines given a man who travelled from Colchester to Horsey, near Great Yarmouth, with his children to see seals.

The animals can be found at Horsey Gap Beach all year round with the seals having pups until early February.

The round trip would mean the family travelled 160 miles.

Read more:

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Julie Wvendth said: “We did see an increase in enforcement activity this weekend, particularly in our coastal areas.

“I would reiterate the points I made last week; we are almost a year into this pandemic and the public are fully aware of what is expected of them and consequently our approach to enforcement must take this into account.

“We will always seek voluntary compliance in the first instance through our continued approach of engage, explain and encourage and every case will be assessed on its own merit.

"However, where this interaction fails and people continue to ignore rules, we will be left with no other option but to use the powers available to us.

“The overwhelming majority of people in Norfolk are making great sacrifices to adhere to the regulations so it is only right that those who blatantly ignore them and risk the health of others are dealt with.

"This includes people who travel into our county for non-essential purposes and in contravention of the guidance to stay at home or stay local.”