ALMOST 60 people were wrongly charged by police under new coronavirus laws, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today admitted.

A review into whether people had been correctly charged since emergency coronavirus legislation came in on March 27, found dozens had been wrongly charged by police.

The review found all 44 charges brought under the Coronavirus Act, which allows officers to remove or detain a "suspected infectious person" for screening and assessment were incorrect.

Meanwhile, a further 12 charges under the Health Protection Regulations 2020, which give powers to break up gatherings and fine people breaching restriction of movement rules, were also wrong.

It comes after the CPS carried out a review of all 231 police charges under coronavirus legislation in England and Wales up until the end of April, where the prosecution has either been stopped or ended in a conviction.

Service director of legal services, Gregor McGill, said: "Under the regulations, the vast majority, that's 175 out of 187, have been charged correctly.

"And these included people driving from London to Leicester for a party, groups drinking and misbehaving in the park and other groups hanging around the town centre after being asked to go home by police on several occasions.

"Where mistakes were made, it was usually because Welsh regulations were used in England, or vice versa.

"Under the Act, all 44 charges were incorrect because they did not cover potentially infectious people, which is what the legislation is intended for."

He said 38 of the 44 charges had been brought alongside other offences, including assaults on emergency workers, theft and burglary, while 31 of the wrongful charges were withdrawn in court, with 13 wrongful convictions returned to court to be withdrawn.

Of those 13, some 11 were substituted with charges under the regulations.

It comes as North Yorkshire Police was among the forces in England and Wales to have issued the highest number of fines to those breaching lockdown rules.

The force said it had issued 843 fines to people in the county between March 27 and May 11.

National Police Chiefs' Council Chair Martin Hewitt said: "The vast majority of people continue to do the right thing, which protects the NHS and helps save lives.

"The figures show our approach is proportionate with just 0.02 percent of the population in England and Wales being issued with a fine.

"I want to thank people for continuing to follow the regulations - I recognise it's not easy and that this is a challenging time for us all.

"Our approach of - engage, explain and encourage, and only as a last resort, enforce - will continue. It is working across the UK. I urge the public to keep going, keep following the advice.

"Officers are working hard to keep us all safe from the full range of crimes in what remain challenging circumstances so we would ask everyone to work with us and remember that if you need our help we are here for you."