More than seven out of 10 fines for breaches of lockdown restrictions in North Yorkshire have been handed to men, according to police figures.

North Yorkshire Police revealed yesterday it has issued 328 fixed penalty notices since the third lockdown started.

Of that number, 235 have been to men — 72 per cent of all fines issued so far. Ninety-three have been to women.

Nearly half of the fines have been to people aged 18 to 25.

A total of 160 have been issued for indoor gatherings, some of which have been for house parties.

Read more:

• Lockdown fear needs to be restored, says senior police officer


• Harrogate district on track to achieve vaccine deadline


• Social media campaign to defy lockdown raises concern

In Harrogate, 22 of the 34 fixed penalty notices since the third lockdown began on January 6 have been issued for being outside without good reason. 

Police have handed 27 of the fines to men. However, most of the breaches have been committed by people from outside the area with just 11 notices given to local residents.

It comes as police pledged to get tougher on those who breach lockdown restrictions and said they would no longer “waste time” with rule breakers.

Yesterday Superintendent Walker told a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, the partnership organisation that leads the county's response to covid, that officers continued to issue fines but had seen an improvement in the last week.

A total of 87 fines were handed out across the county in week three of lockdown compared with 134 in week two. He said:

He added he felt the message to stay at home was getting through to most people, but a minority do not feel it applies to them.