AUTOMATIC Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is being used by Devon and Cornwall police officers to enforce Covid-19 regulations.

Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said ANPR cameras across the region would be used to make sure only essential journeys are being made.

Every officer in the force has access to an ANPR app on their devices which allows them to access live information about vehicles they pass.

Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez said: “Covid is spreading rapidly across the whole of the UK, not least because this new strain of the virus is far more contagious.

“I was saddened to hear about the reports of hundreds of covid breaches over the weekend, many of which are understood to be related to second homes.

“As such, I welcome the force’s use of ANPR to monitor vehicle movements and make sure the only journeys being made here are essential ones.”

The Chief Constable has called on everyone to ’regulate yourself’ in a bid to bring infection rates down.

He said: "1,000 people a day are dying. You know what to do, please do it.

"We are going to enforce and there is going to be an awful lot of activity and an awful lot of difficult conversations if this carries on.”