MORE than 50 fines for Covid breaches have been issued by Dorset Police in just over a week.

It comes as the chief constable reminds people to 'use their common sense' when leaving home to exercise.

Fifty-four fines have been issued to people who have breached Covid regulations in the nine days since the third national lockdown began.

The Fixed Penalty Notices (FNPs) have been given out for breaches including travelling to Dorset from out of town, protesting against the lockdown and being out without a good excuse.

As previously reported, a group of tourists who travelled from Coventry to Lulworth last weekend were turned away and fined.

Police have revealed there have been a number of similar incidents with people travelling 'unreasonable' distances to visit Dorset, including people from Southampton, Eastleigh and London.

Chief Constable James Vaughan said: "There is no excuse for people travelling these distances. In regards to those people who deliberately flout the rules, we are moving much more quickly to issuing fines compared to the way we responded in the first lockdown."

It comes after Mr Vaughan, as chairman of the Local Resilience Forum, wrote an open letter to everyone across Dorset thanking them for their efforts during the lockdown and urging them to keep following the restrictions.

Dorset Police have been using the four Es approach - encourage, educate, engage, enforce - to deal with people who breach the Covid rules.

However, they plan to take a much more hardline approach to those who deliberately ignore them.

James Vaughan said: "Rule-breakers will not have the benefit of the first three Es, we will go straight to enforcement."

In the rules issued by the government detailing what people can and cannot do in this third lockdown, people are told that if they do leave home for exercise they must 'stay local', which has led to some confusion about what 'local' means.

Mr Vaughan said: "In hindsight it may have been helpful if the distance people could travel from their homes had been prescribed as a mileage by the government, however, we have been left to interpret it as we see fit.

"My advice to people is that 'local' means your village or your town and you should not really be driving anywhere unless you cannot exercise directly from your home.

"If you have to think about whether or not your journey is reasonable then it probably isn't. Please use your common sense."