Wiltshire Police will be putting extra patrols on the streets of Swindon this weekend to help ensure people comply with Covid-19 restrictions during Halloween.

PCSOs will be joined by additional police officers and staff over the coming weekend, working alongside Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council, to make sure people are enjoying Halloween celebrations safely.

Deputy chief constable Paul Mills said the feedback from the community policing teams was that the majority of the public were complying the Covid-19 rules.

He said: "We have been working hard to proactively engage with the public, and across the county have dedicated teams of ten PCSOs allocated to identifying any potential breaches of the regulations, so we can deal with them swiftly but proportionately.

"Overall we can see that most people have adapted to this "new normal" and understand that the restrictions are in place to protect us all."

He added: "As we approach the Halloween weekend, we will have additional dedicated resources in place to proactively patrol in our communities. We are also working very closely with our partners, including both local authorities, to ensure we are engaging with businesses, particularly those linked to the night-time economy to ensure that people can socialise safely if they wish to do so.

"The threat from Covid-19 remains very real in our communities and I would encourage everyone to continue to play their part in helping to stop the spread of the virus."