Police give more info about fines for not wearing face masks and how they will be enforced

Anybody caught without a face covering in supermarkets will be fined £100 from July 24th- next Friday.

The latest legislation was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock and sees the public required to wear a mask by law from July 24th. 

This means anybody caught not wearing a mask will face a £100 fine. 

However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said it will only intervene as a ‘last resort’ when it comes to enforcing the new guidelines.

The consequences of not wearing a face covering in shops has not been made clear, and there has been confusion surrounding how the police will enforce the rules.

Addressing this, Martin Hewitt, chair of the NPCC, said: “While we were unaware that the announcement was to be made last night, we have the time to work closely with the Home Office, retailers and trade bodies on the implementation of new regulations on the wearing of face coverings in shops, which are due to come into effect on 24 July.

“We will expect retailers to manage entry to their stores and compliance with the law while customers are inside, with police involvement as a last resort.

“As with other coronavirus regulations, we will follow an approach of engaging, explaining, encouraging and only enforcing where encouragement has been unsuccessful.

“Experience shows that compliance with the regulations to manage the spread of coronavirus is high and this must continue to be a joint effort between the retail sector, customers, government and police.

“This is particularly important as demand on the police increases as the lockdown eases.”

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said: “Retailers have made the safety of staff and customers their top priority and we support measures aimed at protecting the health of the public.

“While retailers will play their part in communicating the new rules on face coverings, they must not be the ones enforcing these rules.

“With hundreds of incidents of violence and abuse directed at retail staff every day, we welcome the announcement that enforcement will be left to the authorities, rather than potentially putting hardworking retail colleagues in harm’s way.

“We look forward to further clarity over whether the wearing of face coverings will apply to shop staff.

“If so, there must be flexibility for colleagues who are in stores all day and can already benefit from other safety measures such as protective screens and 2m distancing.

“Retailers have already spent hundreds of millions installing perspex screens, implementing social distancing measures and providing additional cleaning in stores; we hope this announcement will make shoppers feel even more confident about returning to the high street.”