With a glorious Easter weekend on the cards police forces across the country were making sure people were sticking to the rules of lockdown and staying home as much as possible.
In Gloucestershire 900 drivers were stopped across the four-day bank holiday weekend as police confirm Michaelwood Services, near Lower Wick, was one of the service stations they targeted vehicles.
Operation Stay at Home, which was launched last Thursday, aimed to encourage holidaymakers not to travel over the bank holiday, whether it was to holiday homes, on day trips or heading camping with caravans or tents, reports Gloucestershire Live.
The operation has been a team effort with support from Special Constabulary, Force Response Unit, Neighbourhood Policing Teams and Specialist Operations.
Across the bank holiday weekend, 89 Special Constables worked more than 870 hours to help get the message out.
Police have also been working with Highways England to spread the message from social media alerts to digital media vans touring the county as they display stay at home messages.
In Bristol a special online service has been launched to report people breaking lockdown rules after Avon and Somerset police were inundated with calls.
Chief Constable Rod Hansen said: "I would like to thank the public for their co-operation during a time when most people would want to be enjoying the weather, meeting friends and family or pursuing hobbies and pastimes with others.
"Our officers have had a challenging time in striking the right balance but by and large I believe they have done a great job.
"The vast majority of people have complied with the law and we would much rather educate people and help them change their behaviour where needed. In a way we are policing the virus not the public as the virus doesn’t really move, people do. So the more we can limit our movement, the better chance we have to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Lives depend on it.
"However, in some cases we have moved on to enforcement where appropriate and the support from the public on that has been very strong. We have come a long way together but must continue to hold our nerve for a while longer."
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