Two men have been arrested after they breached coronavirus rules and coughed and spat at police officers on Weymouth seafront.

Police officers visited the Esplanade as part of their patrols on Friday, January 15 where they saw three men on the seafront.

Weymouth and Portland Police say these men were told to leave the area after breaching coronavirus rules.

According a force spokesman, one man coughed in the face of a police officer before being detained for assault. The two other men then tried to free him, causing officers to use PAVA spray on them and detain them.

Another man in the group then spat at another police officer. Two men were arrested and a quantity of cannabis and empty drinks were found by officers. 

A 44-year-old man from Blandford has been arrested on suspicion of obstructing/resisting a constable in execution of duty and assaulting an emergency worker.

A 34-year-old Weymouth man has also been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. 

A spokesman for Dorset Police said one of the attending police officers had a knee injury.

He said early on Friday morning: “Tonight, officers from Response Team Purple were conducting patrols in Weymouth where three males were advised to leave the area of the Esplanade for breaching Covid rules.

“One of the males deliberately coughed in the face of the officer who was then detained for assault.

“The other two then tried to free the detained male causing the officers to have to deploy PAVA (Irritant spray) and detain them for obstruction. One of the other males then spat at another officer.

“The shelter where they were sat was searched and a bag containing a quantity of cannabis was located and the floor littered with empty drinking vessels.

“Both officers are uninjured but aware of the transfer risks from Covid-19.”

The news comes as police officers in Dorset have been spat at or bitten in dozens of attacks during the Covid-19 pandemic - assaults described as "despicable" and "abhorrent" by police bosses.