A total of 81 cars were stopped by officers during roadside checks on the first night of Newport's local lockdown, Gwent Police has confirmed.
On Tuesday September 22, hours after the local lockdown came into effect, Gwent Police tweeted that they were carrying out roadside checks on the A48, on the border between Newport and Cardiff.
A spokesperson for Gwent Police confirmed today that the checks were carried out by officers near the border with St Mellons, Cardiff.
They added that the force plans to engage with people and explain the importance of adhering to lockdown measures to them.
The spokesperson said: " Officers will be out in the community, engaging and encouraging everyone to follow local restrictions which are in place.
"We’ll be conducting roadside vehicle checks on major and minor arterial routes to explain and engage with the public about the importance of following Welsh Government Covid restrictions."
Stopping 81 vehicles in total during the roadside checks, one driver was also reported for not having insurance.
"It is also important that we ensure that motorists on our roads are using vehicles which are being driven safely and our roadside vehicle checks allow us to catch motorists who are driving illegally on our roads," the spokesperson said.
Gwent Police also carried out roadside checks when Caerphilly entered local lockdown on September 8.
In the first three hours after lockdown measures were introduced in Caerphilly, officers stopped a total of 60 cars.
Speaking on September 10, the force said it had no plans to introduce roadblocks or cordons during Caerphilly's local lockdown, and that officers wouldn't be checking driving licences for people's addresses.
Discussing Newport's local lockdown, the Gwent Police spokesperson said: “We understand that this is a challenging time for all our communities, particularly those currently under localised restrictions or about to go into local measures.
“We’ve all had to make significant changes to our way of life during this pandemic. It is more important than ever that we need to act as a community and follow the new guidance.
“By working together, we can hopefully reverse the increase in numbers we have seen over the past few weeks. It’s important that residents and businesses play their part by adhering to local restrictions."
