Essex Police have revealed how they have had to fine and take action against Covid rule-breakers across the county - including people from Maldon and in Tiptree - over the past month.

Among them was a Braintree woman who was issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice for failing to self-isolate despite testing positive for Covid-19.

The woman left her home at least twice after receiving a positive result despite the legal requirement to self-isolate for ten days.

Officers from the Chelmsford Town Centre Team also handed out fines to four people from different households who travelled together from Maldon to Chelmsford for a takeaway on the evening of Saturday. 16 January.

Officers also seized a number of quadbikes after being called to reports of nuisance riding in woods near to Tiptree on the same day.

In Epping, officers stopped two people after they travelled from Grays to High Beech car park on Tuesday, 12 January.

When questioned, the pair – one adult and one juvenile – told officers they made the 25-mile journey to the beauty spot to go for a jog. One fixed penalty notice was issued to the adult.

On 21 December 21 when the county was under Tier 4 restrictions, roads policing officers stopped four performance cars at the A414 at junction 7 of the M11.

It was then confirmed that the vehicles had travelled from the London and Hertfordshire areas, for a car cruise. In total, eight people from the cars were dealt with for breaches of coronavirus legislation. Each driver was also issued with Section 59 warnings for antisocial (inconsiderate) driving.

This means should the driver drive that same or any other vehicle in a similar manner again within 12 months of receiving the warning, the vehicle can be immediately seized by police.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "We would like to thank the public of Essex for doing the right thing in continuing to stay at home and protect the NHS.

"We continue to take a common-sense approach to policing the Government guidelines by first engaging with people before explaining the situation and encouraging them to do the right thing.

"However, when there are clear and blatant breaches we will pursue enforcement."