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Up to a fifth of Avon and Somerset’s police force could be off work at any one time because of coronavirus, a report warns.

It says demand will escalate if the virus reaches epidemic levels and the police may need to enforce “emergency measures”.

The risk is that the force will be unable to keep people safe or bring offenders to justice.

Assistant chief constable Nikki Watson said Avon and Somerset Police is not anticipating a worst-case scenario but has planned for it, as the public would expect.

The report to a police audit committee meeting on March 19 says: “At the time of writing, the UK remains at the containment stage of response, although the Government has acknowledged the virus will spread in a significant way and anticipate that 20 per cent of the workforce could be off work at any one time.

“Additional demand may also arise from public order incidents and the potential need to enforce emergency measures, if put in place.

(Image: PA)

“With these two factors combined, the service the police can deliver is going to be restricted.

“The impact will not be limited to policing - other partners, criminal justice agencies and victim support services will also suffer reduced levels of service.”

There are currently more than 600 confirmed cases of coronavirus. There have been 10 deaths.

As the UK moved from containment into the delay stage on March 12, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that “many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time”.

The report to the audit committee says the police “need to take greater levels of precaution because of the critical nature of their work”, and there could be an impact on the recruitment of new officers.

The police and crime commissioner election was due to be held on May 7 - the same the same day as Bristol’s city council and mayoral elections - but the Government announced local elections would be delayed by a year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Addressing this as a possible scenario, the report says Avon and Somerset's current PCC Sue Mountstevens would remain in office until then.

ACC Watson said: “The response to the covid-19 coronavirus is being led by Public Health England and we’re working closely with them and our partner agencies across the Avon and Somerset force area, through the local resilience forum.

“We’re not anticipating a worst-case scenario, but the public would expect us to plan for it so we can continue to provide critical services and keep the public safe in the event of a reduction in staff capacity or increased demand.

“We’re working with our public health colleagues to make sure all our officers and staff are updated with the latest advice and guidance and I’d like to reassure the public that we have tried and tested business continuity plans to call on should we need to.

"The plans focus on maintaining a level of service that fulfils critical functions.

“If we were to see a significant reduction in officers or staff, we would focus on responding to serious crime and maintaining public order.

"That doesn’t mean we have any concerns at this stage about maintaining public order, but it’s a critical function of policing we have to maintain in any scenario.”