SCOTLAND’S top police officer has insisted his force has been “proportionate” after revealing it issued the largest number of fines for breaching Covid rules in the UK.

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said Police Scotland officers handed out more than 7,000 fixed penalties since March.

Relative to population, this was six times the rate at which the Metropolitan Police, the UK’s biggest force, issued fewer than 2,000 fines for the whole of London.

Mr Livingstone also said there had been almost 550 arrests in relation to Covid rules and 350 “interventions” at various premises, around 90 of which were closed.

Between the start of the pandemic and the end of December, all the English and Welsh police forces combined issued just over 30,000 fixed penalties for Covid breaches.

Police Scotland issued more fines than the five largest mainland forces outside London combined - Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Kent and Merseyside.

Only the UK’s third largest force, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, came close to Police Scotland, issuing around 4,500 fines last year. 

Lockdown restrictions in Scotland have often been tougher than in England during the pandemic.

The Chief Constable said Police Scotland had been neither light touch or heavy-handed, but proportionate and consistent.

He said: “We issued over 7,000 fixed penalties after having 100,000 interactions with citizens [about coronavirus compliance].

"By way of comparison, the regulations are different but very similar, the Metropolitan Police with a population of around 9m, compared to Scotland with a population of 5.5m, in a very urban area, had issued less than 2,000 fixed penalty notices compared to the 7,000 we have issued.

“And yet that was still a very small proportion, at 7 per cent, of the amount of interactions we’ve had with our fellow citizens, because we’re visible, we’re out in our communities, we’re engaging with people, we’re explaining things.

"We will take enforcement action as the regulations change. We will take enforcement action when required.”

Mr Livingstone also defended his force’s response to an incident in a house in Aberdeen on Wednesday, video of which was widely circulated on social media.

Three people were charged in connection with assaulting police officers and threatening and abusive behaviour after officers entered the property after reports of a party.

READ MORE: Three charged after police enter Aberdeen home over suspected lockdown gathering

At the the Scottish Government's daily briefing, Mr Livingstone said it was a “critical time” in the fight against Covid, and he would “maximise policing’s visible presence in our communities and on our roads”.

He said: “I’ll do that to help people, to offer reassurance, but also to act as a deterrent to those who may be thinking of breaching restrictions.

“Although the restrictions have changed again, the approach of Police Scotland will not.

“Our response has been proportionate, reasonable and fair, underpinned of course by the principle of consent, from which we draw our legitimacy.

“Officers and staff overwhelmingly discharge these new responsibilities and duties with compassion and commonsense, explaining the rules, helping people to do the right thing.

“But be assured, be very very clear, where officers encounter wilful and blatant offences, they will continue to act decisively to enforce the law as the public would expect.”