Aylesbury Chief Constable writes to public urging local people to obey 'social distancing' advice

He said:

"The outbreak of coronavirus is something that is having a fundamental impact on all of our lives with sometimes tragic consequences.

“We all have a role to play here in the Thames Valley and across the nation, in helping to combat coronavirus and only by working together will we best manage this.

“The government has directed people to stay inside and only to go out for very specific reasons: to buy essential food and provisions, for a medical emergency, to care for someone, or to travel to and from work only when absolutely necessary.

“I am urging you to all take this advice.

“We will continue our day to day policing duties, working with our communities to ensure we are all complying with this essential government direction.

“However if the public do not take the advice we will look to use the new police powers in order to safeguard everyone. We are expecting legislation and further government guidance on this shortly.

“You may be wondering how Thames Valley Police is coping and what we are doing to make sure we can still respond?

“We are taking all necessary steps to protect our officers and staff.

“This is so that we can continue to protect the most vulnerable and respond where we are needed most.

“We have strong, well tested contingency plans in place to deal with all possibilities, and we will continue to serve the public during this exceptionally challenging time.

“If you take anything from this message please let it be this.

“Stay at home, protect yourself, protect your loved ones and those around you, and feel confident that Thames Valley Police will continue to protect you.

“We can all work together to best protect Thames Valley and the nation through this pandemic.”