PEOPLE “should know what a clear covid breach is”, the chairman of Wiltshire Police Federation said.

Insp Mark Andrews, who leads the county’s rank-and-file police union, noted the coronavirus regulations could be confusing but added: “The legislation is clear, you should only leave the house if you absolutely have to on one occasion for exercise, which you should do locally.

“It’s the definition of ‘local’ that is causing some people some problems.”

His comments came as the government promised police officers would take a “high-profile” approach to enforcing lockdown rules, including potentially stopping members of the public to ask why they were not at home.

Earlier this week, Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said his officers would continue to engage with the public, explain the rules, encourage them to follow those rules and enforce them if there were “flagrant and deliberate breaches of the rules”. The force received 286 reports of people flouting the regulations in the first seven days of the first lockdown and issued nine fines.

However, some have said the rules are confusing – with a gulf between what is prohibited by law and what is prohibited in government guidelines.

On Tuesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel wrongly said “outdoor recreation” was permitted in a “restricted and limited way”. It is prohibited during the lockdown, with the government’s website stating: “You cannot leave home for recreational or leisure purposes (such as for a picnic or a social meeting).”

Asked whether police officers had been put in an impossible position by ministers, Insp Andrews of the Wiltshire Police Federation told the Adver: “I don’t think it’s impossible; it’s confusing and it’s confusing to us at times. The legislation is clear, you should only leave the house if you absolutely have to on one occasion for exercise, which you should do locally.

“It’s the definition of local that is causing some people some problems. I’m not a runner, but I have in the past run 13 miles if I run from my front door, go for a 13 mile run and come back you could say that I’ve not been local.

“But, if you have to drive to go somewhere then meet up with friends is that recreation or is that physical exercise? That’s where the confusion comes in. In those sorts of cases an officer will always try to engage with individuals we find who may be exercising and ask why they’re there and use our discretion where we should deal with them more robustly and where we should give them a warning. That’s what we’ve always done in Wiltshire.”

He added: What we’ll be looking for now and what people won’t be able to use is those people who are clearly breaching covid.”

In a warning to those deliberately flouting rules, Insp Andrews said: “We’ve been doing this for a year now, people should know what a clear breach is.

“They won’t be given those opportunities which, in the past, they were once given. We will be dealing with them through issuing penalties. It’s those individuals who are not quite clear about the ‘local’ and exercising as against recreation that we will be trying to help.”