Kentish Express Ashford & District
Lockdown warning as rules ignored
Birthday celebrations were broken up by police and a council had to warn people to stay away from its beaches as temperatures soared at the weekend.
Despite most people staying at home to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, police and local authorities say some people are still ignoring the rules on social distancing.
Kent and Medway Specials say they were called to reports of a gathering. When they got to the address, they found a number of people celebrating a birthday and warned the group to go home.
Officers in Tunbridge Wells said they had been forced to issue one person with a penalty notice on Saturday after several warnings.
And in Swanley, seven groups of people had to be sent home from Swanley Park.
It forced Kent Police officers to tweet a list of non-essential reasons they had come across for being outdoors, including “family picnics, romantic dates, a sandwich and a can of beer halfway through a bike ride and feeding the ducks.”
Folkestone and Hythe District Council took to Facebook to chastise families who had travelled from as far away as Bromley - a round trip of 122 miles.
The council said: “This is not a public holiday – it’s a global pandemic.”
An ice cream parlour faced a backlash for announcing it would open at the weekend. Makcari’s in Herne Bay posted on Instagram: “It’s set to be a scorcher this weekend!”
It prompted negative comments and was quickly deleted, the business posting an apology and claiming the post was automatically scheduled by a company maintaining its online sites.
People were spotted playing tennis on courts at The Ridge in Kennington, Ashford, on Saturday.
The courts are looked after by Ashford Borough Council and are free to use.
A council spokesman said: “Council staff will be placing laminated signs around the courts and will also tape off the entrance to further deter people from using the courts.”
Similar incidents across the UK prompted Health Secretary Matt Hancock to warn that sunbathing was against the lockdown rules and that these could be tightened if some people continued to breach them.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “But if the result of that is that too many people go out and flout the other rules because they say, ‘Well, if I can exercise then it’s fine for me to do other things,’ then I’m afraid we will have to take action.
“If you don’t want us to have to take the step to ban exercise of all forms outside of your own home then you’ve got to follow the rules, and the vast majority people are following the rules.”
But most people in Kent appeared to be following the rules.
Dover District Council shared a snap of an empty seafront, posting: “Thank you for staying home. All quiet on Dover seafront with a watchful presence from Kent Police and Port of Dover Police.”
On Broadstairs beach, police took photos showing them to be almost empty, alongside a post saying “Thank you for staying safe.”
It was also quiet on the promenade at Gravesend, next to the River Thames, although officers did make two arrests for being drunk and disorderly.
In Maidstone, Mote Park was relatively quiet, although a few small groups congregated in the green space.
The play areas were empty, as was the town centre.