POLICE were called out almost 70 time to incidents across Trafford for people failing to keep within current lockdown guidelines for coronavirus.

Greater Manchester Police have released figures of incidents between March 25 and April 7 saying that there were 1132 incidents reported across the whole of Greater Manchester in total; which included 494 house parties, 166 street parties, 122 group gatherings for sporting activities, 173 gatherings in parks and 112 incidents of anti-social behaviour/public disorder amongst others.

Meanwhile, the Messenger have broken downs the figures for Trafford where 35 calls for house parties or gathers and then there were 17 for gatherings at parks.

There were eight calls for house gatherings to watch sport events, four street parties and three for miscellaneous reasons related to COVID-19 and one case of anti-social behaviour related to the virus.

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “We understand the desire people will have to spend time with family and friends over the Easter period; however it is vital that we follow the Government guidelines. We must do this to protect ourselves, our families, our communities and the NHS by preventing the spread of this highly contagious infection.

“I am incredibly grateful to all those who have provided their own homemade videos to lend their support to the #StayHomeSaveLives campaign because, as stressed by the Prime Minister, the single most important action we can take in fighting coronavirus is to stay at home in order to save lives.

“I would encourage everyone to enjoy themselves at home with their loved ones but please don’t socialise beyond the immediate people that you live with. Please don’t participate in other social gatherings inside or outside, no matter how big or small.

“We are trying to engage, explain, and encourage everyone to follow the Government guidance. However, where people do not comply with the guidelines, we will use the legislative powers. We hope that such actions will not be necessary and the public will work with us during this challenging time.

“GMP and other emergency services are doing everything we can to play our part to protect you and your loved ones, but we need to get through this together, as a community. So we ask that you do your part too and follow the Government’s instructions.

“We would like to thank the vast majority who continue to comply with these measures, but each and every one of us need take this seriously.”