Stay-at-home rules ‘cannot be enforced’ as shops reopen

POLICE have warned lockdown rules are becoming unenforceable as the public return to work and more shops reopen.

The Police Federation, which represents front-line officers, said it was “absolute nonsense” for them to be telling sunbathers to move on, when shoppers were queuing with “scarcely a fag packet between them” to buy “non-essential” products at reopened DIY

stores. Police chiefs also warned that increasing numbers were driving miles to beauty spots in defiance of government advice to “stay home and stay local”.

Walkers were also sticking official police guidance on their windscreens which stated it was permitted provided their walk was longer than their drive, they said. Over the weekend North Yorkshire Police issued 61 fines to people travelling to the area from West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and Kent.

The police were backed by Frances O’grady, the TUC general secretary,

who warned the Government: “People are finding it increasingly crazy that people are cracked down on for sunbathing when they’re in a park and yet we’re all seeing those stories of warehouses where workers are being overcrowded.”

Companies that had shut stores are starting to reopen amid lockdown measures, after introducing new social distancing controls. DIY chain Homebase reopened 20 of its UK stores for a trial period on Saturday, following the lead of its competitor B&Q. Greggs, the

bakers, has also announced plans to reopen some stores, while figures from the AA suggest the country is edging back to work as shops, building sites and factories reopen.

Ken Marsh, Metropolitan Police Federation chairman, said: “The Government lays out guidelines that you must stay two metres apart, don’t stand still in park areas, exercise once a day. Yet how does reopening every DIY store in the country adhere to what they are talking about? We have had the bizarre situation where my colleagues have

been telling people to keep moving and not stand still, and they look over their shoulders and see 150 people queuing up to go into a DIY store with not a fag packet between them.

“It is absolute nonsense. We are being set up to fail. What needs to be done is a clear and unambiguous ruling about what people can and can’t do.

“If they allow people to go out by stealth, the police are not in control. My colleagues need to know because they are enforcing what the Government is laying out.”