POLICE have called on the government to make sure their messaging is clear, as ministers plan lifting of some lockdown measures.

The Prime Minister is this afternoon expected to announce a return to the rule of six next month, as he unveils his "covid roadmap".

Insp Mark Andrews, chairman of the Wiltshire Police Federation, said: “As police officers we are expected to enforce the legislation set down by the government.  In Wiltshire we have strived to work with our communities to ensure they fully understand what is expected before we use our enforcement powers.

"We have seen an increase in the number of penalty notices issued for breaches over recent weeks.  This is hard to understand when we are dealing with a simple message in relation to lockdown.  

"What is worrying our officers is the confusion which could arise once we start to come out of lockdown if the government doesn’t learn from its previous mistakes around clarity of message.”

READ MORE: Live updates as Boris Johnson unveils lockdown easing plan

He said the rules and guidelines needed to be “echoed and followed by every government department and minister”.

The police union chief echoed the comments from national Police Federation of England and Wales chairman John Apter, who said Boris Johnson should aim “not to repeat the lack of clarity over last year’s pandemic measures” ahead revealing his “road map” out of England’s lockdown.

Research by the PFEW suggested just one in 10 officers in England and Wales agreed with the statement “new police powers introduced to manage the Covid-19 crisis have been clear”.

Some 71 per cent of respondents to the Demand, Capacity and Welfare Survey disagreed with the statement, while 19 per cent neither agreed or disagreed. Almost 12,500 officers responded to the survey.