A COUNCILLOR has dubbed youths hanging round Tesco together during the lockdown as "irresponsible" after a fierce debate was sparked on social media.

The issue first arose when somebody posted on a Facebook community group this morning outlining their outrage.

They said: "To those parents who let their kids go out and hang around in gangs yesterday near Tescos can I point you to the news.

"There is a highly infectious virus out there which killed 684 people in this country yesterday.

"Obviously you wouldn't miss your kids or anyone else in your family they pass it on to.

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"Stay at home, it's the law. If you can't control your kids, learn. Fast."

Many responded in agreement, while there was much discussion as to whether the lockdown imposed by the Government is enshrined in law.

Police were given new powers on Thursday, March 26, meaning they can enforce the lockdown.

This includes instructing people to go home, issuing a fixed penalty notice of £60 and even arrest.

The Government's website states: "If an individual continues to refuse to comply, they will be acting unlawfully, and the police may arrest them where deemed proportionate and necessary."

Councillor Andrew Pinnock (Lib Dem, Cleckheaton) agreed some parents should do more and described the youths as irresponsible.

He said: "It's irresponsible – a situation like this brings out the worst in some people.

“It’s only a very small proportion; the majority of people play by the rules, whether written or not.

“The police have got only a limited capacity to be here, there, and everywhere – there will always be people who try exploit that.”

There have been a total of 38,168 positive cases of coronavirus so far in the UK, according to The Department of Health.

Sadly, 3,605 of those who have tested positive have died.

The latest rise of 684 deaths is a record daily total.

The Government's rules for the lockdown remain the same: stay inside unless you have to make essential journeys for basic supplies, to help someone else, for one form of daily exercise, or for your job as a key worker, if you can't work from home.

Councillor John Lawson (Lib Dem, Cleckheaton) said: "Obviously at the moment, social distancing is an imperative and we must try support that wherever we can.

"We must try and keep our journeys to a minimum outside.

"As a family, we are doing the same thing as the Government is trying to encourage - we're practising social distancing.

"We've got teenage children that are doing this.

"It's beholden to everybody to do this, we're all going to have to do this to make an effect.

"So I urge everybody to really think about their social contact, their family contact, and those people they come into contact with.

"We need to be thoughtful and need to be kind to one another."