to think Derbyshire police need to read the LAW and understand that you can't fine people when they are not breaking it

[chomalungma]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-55560814

Surrounded by police, treated like a criminal for driving 5 miles to a beauty spot for a walk.

It is not illegal to drive to exercise.

And don't get me started on all the people who suddenly see exercise as their daily right when they didn't give a monkeys about it before

I dont really understand these types of comments

People are told of a nasty virus that you are more likely to get very sick with if you are overweight and/or unfit....and then posters seem surprised that overweight/unfit people decide to exercise

Yanbu OP. I don’t believe for a second that no one had briefed the police on what the covid regulations say, but if no one had, surely the police officers could have had a quick google and worked it out.

This incident was clearly bullying. A group of men surround two women walking alone, tell them their coffees are a ‘picnic’ and location is illegal when obviously neither is true, then fine them £400 despite the guidance saying the police should engage and explain etc. This is power trippy abusive behaviour and it was very worrying.

Derbshire police also dyed the blue lagoon black to ‘deter walkers’ and separately posted mocking videos that they’d taken by drone of innocent walkers going for a perfectly legal countryside walk. I find them creepy as hell.

The virus is awful but there comes a point when you have to ask what kind of country we want to live in. I am happy for schools to close and to be locked down except for exercise, but to live in a country where police bully and illegally fine anyone they like - no. They should be fired and prosecuted in my opinion.

Dh mentioned about angling today. He went out for a run and said there’s a lot of fishermen about....does it really count as exercise?

Derbshire police also dyed the blue lagoon black to ‘deter walkers’ and separately posted mocking videos that they’d taken by drone of innocent walkers going for a perfectly legal countryside walk. I find them creepy as hell.

Agree. I live on the GM / Cheshire border and walk in the Peaks every weekend. I'm sticking to the Cheshire bit of the Peaks for now.

Surely there must be some repercussions for Derbyshire police?

Derbshire police also dyed the blue lagoon black to ‘deter walkers'

I think the Derbyshire police overstepped the mark by a mile when they used drones during the first lockdown and stopped the two women this time, but the blue lagoon gets dyed to stop people swimming in it because it's corrosive. That's why the water's so clear - nothing grows in it. It's been done on previous years too.

Looks like Matt Hancock doesn't understand the difference between guidance and law

www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/10/matt-hancock-doesnt-rule-out-further-toughening-of-lockdown-rules

The force has subsequently said it is reviewing the fines. But when Hancock was asked if the original police action was right, he replied: “Absolutely I’m going to back the police.

“You might look at the rules and think, ‘Well it doesn’t matter too much if I just do this or do that’. But these rules are not there as boundaries to be pushed, they’re the limit of what people should be doing.”

When asked if that meant it was illegal to drive somewhere to go for a walk, Hancock said he did not know the exact details of this case. But he said he thought the police were enforcing the rules sensitively.

It's disgusting. If the government wants the guidelines to be the law then it should have had the gumption to draft the law appropriately. This habit of producing guidelines that far overreach the provisions of the law is divisive and confusing. The police also seem to like going for a soft target - I hope everyone who receives an unlawful fine refuses to pay it.

And don't get me started on all the people who suddenly see exercise as their daily right when they didn't give a monkeys about it before.

But it is their daily right, the guidance makes that clear. And what precisely is wrong with people who didn't exercise before taking it up now? Surely the healthier people generally are, the better?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/10/lockdown-sceptic-covid-police-tough-crackdown-help?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

John Harris expressing concerns, happy to see this.

police also seem to like going for a soft target - I hope everyone who receives an unlawful fine refuses to pay it.

This. With bells on.

Surely the healthier people generally are, the better?
Indeed. Saint Boris expressly said so. "We must be fitter to resist the virus." (He forgot to add "sorry I've snatched away so many ways you can get fitter".)

Also, people who would normally be walking a lot as a matter of their daily routine have had this snatched away. So, people do need to take exercise, when they did not need to before.

You never see a policemen when you want one.

And see dozens when you don't.

They were being stupid, uneducated and probably illiterate.

As policemen often are.

'They were being stupid, uneducated and probably illiterate. As policemen often are.'

What a disgusting thing to say.

They are being heavy handed but it is maybe needed to ram home the message at the moment.

Are people going out for walks in bin liners?! They weren't dressed up at all. It's a nice area, people tend to look smart around here. It's not really a go-out-in-your-dressing-gown kinda place.

And don't get me started on all the people who suddenly see exercise as their daily right when they didn't give a monkeys about it before

I think you're forgetting that there are a huge number of people who would have been walking as part of their daily activity, e.g. to the bus stop, to their office, to go out for a sandwich at lunchtime who are now not getting that activity at all. Is it a surprise that they might want to go for a walk even if they hadn't previously?

I used to average 10,000 steps when I worked in an office, pre lockdown. Now i'd only do about 2000 unless I make a special effort

Before lockdown I was a very active person, as I don’t drive I walked everywhere, I ‘execised’ outdoors once a week

However

I walked to work and back - 60 mins total 4 x week - not available as now WFH
Went to the gym 3 x week plus 2 miles round trip walking to the gym - gyms closed
on weekends Friday -Sunday I probably averaged 6-7 miles a day just going about my normal business

No I am sedentary, stuck at my laptop for 10 hours a day.
Quite frankly I am sick of walking in circles around the local park, nothing will give me greater pleasure to stop ‘exercising’ outdoors but as that is all that is available to me I will continue to go for a daily walk for the sake of my physical well being and as a single parent with no support bubble, my mental well being

Surely the healthier people generally are, the better?

Oh you would think so wouldn't you? But apparently it's far better to cancel all forms of exercise and keep takeaways open.

Long term health plans can get to fuck. Covid firefighting is all that matters.

And don't get me started on all the people who suddenly see exercise as their daily right when they didn't give a monkeys about it before.

You actively want more people to stay inside getting fatter and more and more unfit and more depressed?

And don't get me started on all the people who suddenly see exercise as their daily right when they didn't give a monkeys about it before.

FFA. It's all that we CAN do. There is literally nothing left that we can leave our house for that is remotely sanity preserving. I can't even see my family. I'm scared to go to the tiny minority of shops that are open. I can't go for a drive in the countryside. LITERALLY the only thing I'm allowed to do is go for my daily exercise.

Jesus. I've rarely been so riled up by a post on here @Desmondo2016

Name changed as potentially outing, but I live on the doorstep of where this happened (or within 5 miles anyway ).

I am so annoyed at the police here basically making the rules up as they go along; they also fined several people at the local National Trust property (Calke Abbey) for travelling 7 miles. This is a 600 acre estate, which you have to pre book a time slot for. It's one of the most "covid secure" places you could go for a walk. And yes, people should stay "local", but as there is no definition of "local" in the guidelines for England it is widely open to individual interpretation. Personally I consider local as within 10 miles.

The local Facebook groups of the nearby villages here are now full of people asking if they can travel 5 miles etc for a walk, or meet a friend. Lots of people saying that they'd rather not risk it. Lots of people have messaged the local police force themselves via Facebook messenger and received contradictory responses. Seems to be a lot less people out walking this week, probably because people are scared of a fine.

What is more annoying is that over the summer Foremark Reservoir was overcrowded and full of people parking illegally and dangerously along the country lanes, and it took the police over a week to start actually doing anything about it. By which time there had been a few car accidents there. But now they've got the time and resources to stage a sting operation at the local NT parkland?! And then post about it proudly on their Facebook page with a photo of 4 police officers, one of who wasn't wearing their mask over their nose.

Also, for people saying about crossing county boundaries. I live in Derbyshire, but could walk across the border to Staffordshire in half an hour and Leicestershire in an hour and a half. It's not that far.

I've thought about this story a lot since the news came out. It is very heavy handed.

I can't be too outing but I live in a pretty rural area, on a tiny country lane. My 'village' consists of that one lane (about 10 houses total). No pavements, no streetlights, high hedges on either side. I actually tried to walk down the closest 'public footpath' a few days ago and ended up in the middle of a farmers field when the path ended and almost lost a boot in the deep mud 😂 There is a major A road just off my lane, about 1/2 mile away. There is lots of open space around me but it's all farmers fields, most of which are full of livestock at the moment.

The nearest corner shop and petrol station are about 3 miles away. The nearest towns with a supermarket and any other facilities are at least 8 miles in any direction. Takeaways won't even deliver to us as we are too far away from the nearest town/city. I think this is why there is no set mileage limit, it would make it impossible for people like me to do anything.

I have to drive to get to anywhere I can safely walk, I usually combine this with a shopping trip at the same time so I can minimise trips. I often take a flask of coffee or even soup and some snacks so I avoid interacting with anyone else. I'd be pretty pissed off if I got fined as I'm following the law and doing all I can to keep safe and sane.

@Skysblue

Yanbu OP. I don’t believe for a second that no one had briefed the police on what the covid regulations say, but if no one had, surely the police officers could have had a quick google and worked it out.

This incident was clearly bullying. A group of men surround two women walking alone, tell them their coffees are a ‘picnic’ and location is illegal when obviously neither is true, then fine them £400 despite the guidance saying the police should engage and explain etc. This is power trippy abusive behaviour and it was very worrying.

Derbshire police also dyed the blue lagoon black to ‘deter walkers’ and separately posted mocking videos that they’d taken by drone of innocent walkers going for a perfectly legal countryside walk. I find them creepy as hell.

The virus is awful but there comes a point when you have to ask what kind of country we want to live in. I am happy for schools to close and to be locked down except for exercise, but to live in a country where police bully and illegally fine anyone they like - no. They should be fired and prosecuted in my opinion.

I agree with all of this.

Police on a power trip, and worse, government officials who haven't behaved well themselves throughout all this defending them.

@Dugee

Derbshire police also dyed the blue lagoon black to ‘deter walkers’ and separately posted mocking videos that they’d taken by drone of innocent walkers going for a perfectly legal countryside walk. I find them creepy as hell.

Agree. I live on the GM / Cheshire border and walk in the Peaks every weekend. I'm sticking to the Cheshire bit of the Peaks for now.

Surely there must be some repercussions for Derbyshire police?

The lagoon has been dyed black for several years to deter people swimming in it. The water is really toxic mine washings. It is not related to COVID gatherings.

history of Harpur Hill Quarry Wiki Link

Looks like Boris has broken his own rules...but not the law

They're not his rules though. He's perfectly entitled to go on a bike ride for 7 miles from his house.

The issue is the heavy handedness and arbitrary handing out of fines by Derbyshire police, all at their own discretion.

@HesterShaw1

They're not his rules though. He's perfectly entitled to go on a bike ride for 7 miles from his house.

The issue is the heavy handedness and arbitrary handing out of fines by Derbyshire police, all at their own discretion.

I think his Home Secretary and Health Secretary would disagree.