THE SUPERINTENDENT of Trafford Police urges people to follow government guidelines amid the coronavirus.

Supt Caroline Hemingway has released a statement and wants to reassure locals that her team are working 'very hard as usual to protect you, preventing and investigating crime and making arrests.

She said: "As a mum, I can fully appreciate the worries and concerns we are all having at the moment as the situation is evolving on a daily basis. I would recommend you only read official updates and advice from the NHS and Government websites/social media accounts, as I have seen a lot of misinformation, gossip and generally bad advice from non official sources.

"I want to reassure you that you will see my officers out and about preventing crime and undertaking reassurance patrols. They will be patrolling open spaces and visiting local supermarkets and pharmacies to support them with the increased footfall. Once again, can I please ask that you continue to follow government advice and only make essential trips for food or to go to work if you can’t work from home.

"The last thing we want to be doing is dispersing large groups in local parks or taking action against local shops for remaining open contrary to government requests.

"Unfortunately, at times of uncertainty, some criminal elements see it as an opportunity to exploit the public and crime doesn’t stop. I would suggest you look out for any emails or SMS messages linked to the Coronavirus as these scams have dramatically increased, as they target the vulnerable and play on the public’s fears.

"The latest Government advice is to stay at home, and only leave home: to shop for basic necessities or pick up medicine, to travel to work when you absolutely cannot work from home, and to exercise once a day, alone or with members of your household.

"Do not meet others, even friends or family. If you do need to go out to buy food or essentials, for everyone’s safety please follow advice in store and stay at least two metres away from others.

"With a finite number of officers, I don’t want to be in the position of having to return your children home as this depletes my resources and also puts my officer’s health at risk. As parents, we have a collective responsibility to keep our children safe and know where they are.

"Our officers really do need to be concentrating on supporting those at most risk.

I will continue to adapt and change my resources as the situation evolves and I would ask that we all support and help each other by following the official advice.

We are all in this together.

You have enough worries at the moment, and crime should not be one of them.

Stay safe!