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Ms Patel, who has not been seen or heard in public since March 23, said in an unexpected radio interview this evening that police must not act in a 'heavy-handed' manner during the coronavirus lockdown.
She also said the government will 'absolutely not' be further increasing police powers amid concerns about the way in which some officers have interpreted government guidance on breaking up groups and stopping frivolous journeys.
Some police chiefs are calling for laws to ban Britons from driving long distances and flouting rules to exercise more than once a day ahead of a 77F (25C) Easter weekend. Northamptonshire Police said the 'three-week grace period is over' and threatened that they may even soon start 'checking the items in baskets and trolleys'.
Its Chief Constable Nick Adderley said: 'We will not at this stage be starting to marshal supermarkets and checking the items in baskets and trolleys to see whether it's a legitimate and necessary item. But again, be under no illusion, if people do not heed the warnings, and the pleas that I'm making today, we will start to do that.'
And he added: 'If things don't improve, and we don't get the compliance we would expect, then the next stage will be road blocks and it will be stopping people to ask why they are going, where they're going.'
But asked about the prospect of police officers potentially checking shopping trolleys, Ms Patel told TalkRADIO: 'That is not appropriate, let me be clear on that... that is not the guidance.'
The Home Secretary said the police must use a 'common sense' approach to enforcing coronavirus restrictions.
Officers in Windermere, Cumbria, are already sending people in camper vans home, while locals in St Ives, Cornwall, blocked some roads to protect vulnerable residents. Police have also created online forms for people to report potential breaches of the lockdown which was imposed on March 23 to slow the spread of the deadly disease.
Merseyside Police said it will begin randomly stopping cars to ensure drivers are sticking to lockdown rules, amid revelations from Greater Manchester Police that they attended 494 house parties and 166 street parties in just four days last week despite a ban on social gatherings.
At least five chief constables are calling for the introduction of more stringent restrictions and clearer rules - including laws to enforce limiting exercise to a one-hour period outdoors after some people flouted it to sunbathe in parks or beaches.
Mr Adderley said forces are 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' when it comes to implementing the lockdown rules, and said the government guidance 'could be even clearer'.
Reacting to the trolley claims made by Mr Adderley, ex-justice secretary David Gauke said they were 'wholly inappropriate' and reveal 'worrying and unacceptable authoritarian instincts.'
Civil liberties campaigners were also furious, with Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo stating the 'suggestion of police rummaging through people's shopping trolleys is outrageous' as she questioned what the legal basis would be for doing so.
Mr Adderley later attempted to clarify his remarks, tweeting: 'To be clear on the shopping trolley issue: This is about essential and necessary journeys, not what's in your trolley. I have been clear that we will not be judge and jury on what is an essential item or not, but we may now probe the purpose of the journey.'
The police have the power to issue fines to people who gather in groups during the lockdown. People are only supposed to go outside for food, medicine, to get to work, or for exercise once a day.
The emergency Coronavirus Act gave police powers to impose restrictions on 'events and gatherings' and it has been suggested that this could be used by forces in an attempt to justify road blocks.
However, the law does not include any provision that could force people to require prior permission, show paperwork, or demonstrate reasonable cause for leaving their home.
The UK is preparing for at least another three weeks in lockdown with politicians set to launch a Stay at Home This Easter campaign.
Ms Patel's intervention came as:
- England, Scotland and Wales recorded 887 more coronavirus deaths today, taking Britain's total to 7,984 as the coronavirus crisis continues;
- Downing Street said Britain was at a 'critical juncture' in the battle to curb the spread of the disease;
- The Government made clear there can be no early lifting of the strict social distancing rules, urging the public to 'stick with it';
- Boris Johnson's condition is 'continuing to improve' after a third night in intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital in London where he is being treated for coronavirus.
Reader Comments
Strangers whose only business is to interact with as many strangers as possible each day ... surely I should be allowed to treat any approach by a policeman as a hostile threat