A young boy was spotted wandering the streets this morning alone in just "his Harry Potter pyjamas" during the coronavirus lockdown.
Police were called to Aintree following reports of a child believed to be eight or nine seen by shocked witnesses walking around the Ormskirk Road area wearing pyjamas and slippers and carrying a backpack around 7.45am.
The incident comes despite parents being warned that if they flout the lockdown that they could be punished.
New police powers were brought in on Thursday, aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The Echo claims concerned police asked staff at Aintree train station to look out for the boy who was alone for 40 minutes before they found him in Warbreck Moor at the junction with Warbreck Avenue at 8.25am.
He has since been returned home.
Do you have a coronovirus story? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk
A Merseyside Police spokesman said: "We were called at 7.45am over the concern for safety of a child seen wandering around the Ormskirk Road area of AIntree.
"We did make enquiries at AIntree station but the boy, aged 8 or 9, was found in Warbreck Moor at the junction with Warbreck Avenue at 8.25am. He has been taken home."
The development comes as two different police forces remind people that they should only leave their homes if it is essential.
Cheshire Police also had to publicly tell parents that their children risk catching Covid-19 and getting a criminal record if they continue to gather after they were called to a group of 10 youths congregating in Stanneyfields Park, Neston at 7pm.
Merseyside Police officers in Wirral also reissued their appeal to the public after spending the day reminding people about social distancing.
New powers from give the police a range of options to use against people who are failing to stay at home and venturing out unnecessarily.
If members of the public do not comply, police will be able to:
- Instruct them to go home, leave an area or disperse;
- Ensure parents are taking necessary steps to stop their children breaking these rules;
- Issue a fixed penalty notice of £60, whch will be lowered to £30 if paid within 14 days;
- Issue a fixed penalty notice of £120 for second time offenders, doubling on each further repeat offence.
And if an individual refuses to comply, police may be forced to arrest them, reports Sky News.
However, the Home Office said officers "will always apply their common sense and discretion" in the first instance.
So far 759 people in the UK have died after contracting coronavirus.
