Black people in England and Wales twice as likely to be fined for breaking lockdown rules

Human rights organisations say figures are evidence of symptomatic biases and overzealous policing

Black and Asian people were more likely than white people to be given fines for breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules, police figures for England and Wales suggest.

Human rights organisation Liberty said the figures, which showed black people were more than twice as likely to be fined than people from white backgrounds, were evidence of the government prioritising criminalisation over public health and of bias within police forces.