Roadblocks backlash south of the Border
POLICE in England were accused of an ‘over the top’ response to the UK’s coronavirus lockdown.
Officers set up road blocks to stop and quiz drivers and were accused of chasing dog-walkers and ramblers with drones in the Peak District.
Police have been given sweeping powers to arrest people who go on ‘non-essential’ journeys and ignore Boris Johnson’s plea to ‘stay at home’ for the next three weeks.
The Home Office warned those who defy tough restrictions on movement south of the Border could be hit with a £60 fine initially and £120 for a second offence reaching £1,000-plus for repeat offenders.
After a spate of coughing and spitting attacks on police officers and paramedics, deliberately spreading coronavirus will now be treated as a serious assault punishable with a jail term of up to two years.
But as details of the powers emerged, Derbyshire Police used a drone to film dog-walkers, ramblers and a group posing on a cliff top at sunset last night – highlighting their movements and accusing them of making an ‘unessential’ trip.
The UK Government said people are allowed to leave the house for one form of exercise a day – a walk, run or cycle alone or with other members of your household.
Dog-owners are allowed to walk their pets, but groups of more than two people are not allowed.
The advice has proven problematic for those in built-up areas whose only nearby green-space is a park shared by thousands of others.
A Derbyshire Police spokesman said: ‘Travelling to remote areas of the Peak District for your exercise is not essential travel. Daily exercise should be taken locally.’
But some believe the force is going too far. One senior Tory MP who did not want to be named told MailOnline: ‘Probably what will happen is a quiet word from the policing minister to the Chief Constable of Derbyshire saying, “Can you ease off here, we have got enough to worry about without you telling off people who are just taking their dog for a walk”.’
The MP added the Government was in a difficult position where looser advice saying people could be ‘reasonable’ would risk being exploited by ‘idiots’.
A spokesman for the Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties group, said: ‘Demanding drivers give journey details at road checkpoints is overthe-top. Arbitrary policing will not help to fight this pandemic.’
On Tyneside, Northumbria Police broke up a football match because only two people can gather together.
North Yorkshire Police and Devon and Cornwall Police said they will now be using checkpoints to stop vehicles and order drivers to give details of their journeys.
Police patrols have also started to stop train passengers in cities across the UK to make sure their travel is ‘essential’. Experts have said the enforcement will divert officers from investigating other crimes, but forces including the Met insist it can form part of their usual patrol duties.
‘Exercise should be taken locally’