Fined £200 each...for taking a country walk with a takeaway cup of tea
SOCIALLY-DISTANCED and strolling outdoors, these two friends appeared to be following the guidelines to a tee.
But the women were surrounded by police, read their rights, fined £200 each and told their cups of peppermint tea were illegal – as it was then classed as a picnic.
Jessica allen and eliza Moore, who drove just five miles for their walk at Foremark Reservoir in derbyshire accused police of ‘complete overkill’ after they received fines for breaching coronavirus rules.
as police crackdowns on covid rule breakers hit new heights, visitors to beauty spots were ordered to prove they live locally – while one force warned residents they could be slapped with fines if they were caught ‘throwing snowballs’. a division of West Mercia
Police tweeted that playing in the snow was not a ‘justifiable reason’ to be outdoors – prompting anger and ridicule online.
But they were left red-faced after having to amend the wording to clarify that only ‘antisocial behaviour’ would result in a fine. officers were also on patrol at calke abbey, a national trust property in derbyshire, where they were pictured standing guard at the entrance. the force said officers handed out a number of fines to visitors who were ‘deemed not to be from the local area’.
there were similar scenes at cannock chase in Staffordshire, while at euston station in london, officers were seen stopping passengers to ask where they were going.
Derbyshire Police were also handing out fines at Elvaston Castle. One man said his parents were given a £200 fixed penalty notice after driving seven miles from their home in Whitwick, Leicestershire.
He told the BBC: ‘Upon approaching the park there was a team of police officers so my parents decided to pull in and check that no laws were being broken. When my parents said that they weren’t aware this was too far and they’d go home immediately, the police officer simply said “It’s too late”.’ During the first national lockdown, Derbyshire police were criticised for releasing drone footage of people walking in the Peak District. More than 30,000 fines have now been handed out by police for breaches of Covid-19 laws since they came into force, figures released yesterday show.
But forces have been accused of being overzealous. Government rules say people can meet one other person outside for exercise but should not leave their ‘local area’. But it does not specify a maximum distance that people may travel. The College of Policing says individual officers must use their ‘discretion and professional judgement’ about whether someone has a ‘reasonable excuse for travelling for exercise’.
Miss Allen and Miss Moore, both 27, said they were stunned when officers swooped as they strolled by the reservoir.
Miss Allen, who lives ten miles away, said she feared ‘someone had been murdered or a child had gone missing’ when she arrived on Wednesday afternoon and saw two police vehicles.
‘Straight away they start questioning us. We thought it was a wind-up. We were gobsmacked... we tried to explain that although our houses might be in Leicestershire, we were only a few miles from home.
‘He said “You can’t do that as it’s classed as a picnic”.’ ‘Then the sergeant said “Just book them!”. One of the others started reading my rights... It was complete overkill, the whole thing is absolutely bonkers.’
A Whitehall source said: ‘We don’t think the police should be fining people for being in possession of a skinny latte. However, the guidance is very clear that you should exercise locally.’ Derbyshire Police said driving to a location was ‘clearly not in the spirit’ of the lockdown.