BLACK and Asian people in West Yorkshire were more likely to be given fines for breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules than white people, new figures suggest.

Numbers, obtained via a Freedom of Information request to the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), show West Yorkshire Police (WYP) issued 3,953 fixed penalty notices for breaches of coronavirus regulations between March 2020 and January 2022.

Of these, 2,639 were handed to white people, which – according to the latest population estimates – equates to a rate of 14.5 fines for every 10,000 white people in the area.

Black people received just 210 fines, but this equates to a rate of 45.2 in every 10,000 people – meaning they were 3.1 times more likely to be fined.

And Asian people received fines at a rate of 33.7 per 10,000 people, meaning they were also 2.3 times more likely to be fined.

A spokesperson from the force said: "WYP used a consistent approach to the use of legislation introduced during the pandemic when policing its communities.

"Our aim throughout was to engage with members of the public, explain the need to follow the rules and encourage compliance with the relevant legislation. Enforcement was always used as a last resort.

"National figures make clear that WYP issued fewer fixed penalty notices than a number of other forces. The vast majority of the people of West Yorkshire complied with the guidance, as they did nationally."

Figures from 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, as well as the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police, show black people were around 2.6 times more likely to be fined than white people.

Meanwhile, Asian people and those of mixed ethnicity were 1.9 times and 1.4 times more likely to receive fines, respectively.

The NPCC was asked to provide the number of fixed penalty notices issued for breaches under coronavirus regulations between March 2020 and June 2022, broken down by the ethnicity of the person receiving the fine. No fines were issued from February 2022 onwards.

They said early results from independent analysis of fines – due out this autumn – show disparities across race, but these are "not necessarily a sign of discrimination".

An NPCC spokesman said policing is more inclusive and more diverse than ever, but it is "inevitable" that racist views and bias may exist among some staff because they are drawn from wider society.