Senior North Yorkshire Police officer clarifies position on Covid complaints

A senior officer who said that Covid policing complaints were largely directed at him has moved to clarify the situation.

At a meeting last month, Superintendent Mike Walker said he had been contacted directly by the Liberal Democrat peer and former Sheffield council leader Lord Scriven, as well as Big Brother Watch, asking why he had been trying to enforce guidance rather than actual law.

The concerns dated back to the tier restrictions. North Yorkshire Police set up road blocks to ask people why they were entering Tier 2 North Yorkshire from Tier 3 West Yorkshire.

Supt Walker has now revealed that the complaint from Lord Scriven wasn’t actually addressed to him but to the Chief Constable.

In a message to the latest police, crime and fire panel meeting on Friday (5 February) he said he didn’t want to mislead anyone.

And he confirmed that Lord Scriven had actually written about how the force was handling the legal rules of lockdown rather than asking questions about the way guidance was being policed.

You can see the video clips from the two meetings above.