DYFED Powys Police handed out the third most fines for Covid-19 violations last year – out of Wales and England’s 43 territorial police forces.

The force served a total of 1,784 fixed penalty notices between March 27 and December 20, which amounted to nearly half of all fines handed out by Wales' four police forces combined.

Northumbria Police topped the list with a whopping 3,034 fines, with Greater Manchester Police second, dishing out 2,183 fines.

The fines handed out by Dyfed Powys Police equated to five per cent of total fines among Welsh and English police forces, which amounted to 32,329. However, the force’s total contributed to nearly half of all fines handed out in Wales – 49.7 per cent of the nation’s total of 3,585.

South Wales Police dealt 856 notices (16th on the list) while North Wales Police rounded out the top 20, handing out 625 notices. Of Wales’ total, that left the country's fourth force, Gwent, handing out 320 fines.

It is some feat for the Dyfed Powys force, and also shows how much the rules are being ignored in Powys – which has seen a spike in cases since the start of December.

Dyfed Powys officers cover a patch measuring 10,976 square kilometres – it is the biggest area geographically in Wales and England and third biggest in the UK behind Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The force does this despite having the sixth fewest officers – 1,165 according to March 2020 stats, and one of the lowest budgets too.

A detailed breakdown of the number of fixed penalty notices given by police, including the age and ethnicity of those who had been fined, has been published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

On Wednesday home secretary Priti Patel revealed that figure had since risen to 45,000, meaning there has been a sharp increase since coronavirus rules were tightened over Christmas.

The NPCC figures state that 80 per cent of all notices issued in England and Wales last year were given to people aged between 18 and 39.

Ms Patel on Tuesday backed a tougher police approach to lockdown rule breakers, saying a minority of the public were “putting the health of the nation at risk” as the UK struggles with the second wave of the virus.

But there are fears that a more aggressive crackdown on individuals – as opposed to changing policy on payments for those forced to self-isolate or some workplaces remaining open – could lead to discrimination.

A group of organisations and charities raised concerns with Martin Hewitt, chairman of the NPCC on Wednesday, warning that disabled people could “bear the brunt” of a police crackdown. It came amid reports that officers have been “wrongly claiming” people with disabilities must carry paperwork to prove their exemption to the rule.

Big Brother Watch, Disability Rights UK, Mencap, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and the Survivors Trust have urged police chiefs to clarify the legal exemptions on face covering requirements because they fear disabled people and sexual abuse victims may be disproportionately affected by the latest crackdown on coronavirus laws in a bid to curb infection rates.

Top 20 police forces by fines issued:

Northumbria Police – 3,034

Greater Manchester Police – 2,183

Dyfed-Powys Police – 1,784

Metropolitan Police – 1,761

Lancashire Police – 1,506

North Yorkshire Police – 1,484

Merseyside Police – 1,411

Devon and Cornwall Police– 1,233

West Yorkshire Police – 1,061

Dorset Police – 1,010

West Midlands Police – 970

Thames Valley Police – 965

Cumbria Police – 941

Nottinghamshire Police – 906

Sussex Police – 892

South Wales Police – 856

Northamptonshire Police – 848

West Mercia Police – 748

South Yorkshire Police – 673

North Wales Police – 625