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.

@Changedforthisyear

Unbelievable. Why were there so many police officers in different vehicles in the area. That probably needs to be explained by the constabulary.

My guess is that it was a bunch of Specials.

@Alexandernevermind

Potentially outing but I live near to Foremark. During the last lockdown the road near the reservoir was plagued by bad parking. There isn't a car park as such, so people park on the grass verges long the road, double parking during the summer. After accidents and overcrowding the police had to get involved and move people away. As a National Forest area there are plenty of open spaces around Ashby that the ladies could have walked around. Ashby is hardly a concrete jungle.

Presumably that's because of people a lot more than 5 miles away though?

In my local groups on facebook, we've had posts of people giving warnings of various places where Derbyshire police seem to be hanging out to catch people exercising.

My chunk of town borders a County Park - people could walk it, but large parts of the route don't have pavements & many people feel unsafe doing it. There is an overlap of services, we're included in the same area for a lot of things, but people are being turned away for living a mile on the wrong side, so they travel farther 'in area' to another area they feel safe walking. It's become a bit of a joke - apparently there is no crime around here so they can all have lunch at Elvaston Castle.

Is the issue that, despite it being 5 miles, they live in Leicestershire and travelled to Derbyshire

Does covid stop at county borders? The risk would have been the same if they'd have driven to a lake or similar within Leicestershire.

But I suppose that they would have been outside the reaches of Derbyshire Police if they had done that.

The Police love to flex their muscles. Neither should pay the fine and I hope they don't.

@ActuallyIveGotDental

If my local area is limited to less than 5 miles then I have no supermarket, doctors, hospitals, secondary schools etc, never mind somewhere to have a safe walk

Which is why they didn't give a figure in miles. Mistakenly thinking they were talking to grown ups.

Also I don't recall them saying that you can only be admitted to a local hospital. They said local exercise.

County boundaries mean we wouldn't be able to cross the road and the 20 houses the other side of the road would be restricted to their cul de sac

Just read this.

Couldn't believe the whole coffee and it's a picnic thing.

But can't say I had too much sympathy because I'm sure they couldn't have taken a flask and there wasn't a need to use Starbucks drive through!

I know it's ok and allowed etc but I'm acutely aware of extra unnecessary contact.

I'm not bothered about driving 5 miles for a walk somewhere quiet. Makes more sense to me that does!

The issue isn’t whether the walkers were being sensible or whether they were bending the rules. The issue is that our police force were telling people they were breaking the law when they were not. They gave penalties and ordered people to go home without any legal authority to do so.

@ActuallyIveGotDental I don't know where they lived. Residents in Swadlincote, Burton Ashby would all probably visit.

They're being totally heavy handed.

I took the DC for a drive this morning and the police (Northumbria) were pulling over cars at random in and out of the village. I got pulled over and asked where I was going, I explained the DC were on the verge of killing one another so I was taking them for a drive along the seafront (one mile from my house and many, many miles long), we wouldn't be getting out of the car, it was purely to help calm them and maybe even encourage the 3yo and 11yo to have a nap before I end up doing a murder. Police laughed and waved me on my way.

The 5 miles / local government area thing is Scotland only. In England there are no restrictions on travel.

@iamruth

Seriously, it’s not difficult to just stick to the rules. Is it Essential to drive to walk in that specific place? Do their legs not work out of their front doors? Exactly. Compo faces right there. Give the police/nhs/teachers a break and worry about yourself

As there were two of them and they were needing to social distance, perhaps the pavements around where they lived weren't wide enough to allow them to keep far enough apart?

Outrageous. If 5 miles isn't local area wtf is?

Fair enough if they’re driving to a ‘honey pot’ site that is thronging with people, but if they’re driving to avoid crowds it seems completely absurd.

I don’t like going out from my front door as it’s straight on to a high street which is surprisingly busy even during lockdown (due to a supermarket and popular coffee take away) and local parks are teaming. I would much rather drive a few miles to get somewhere quieter. My mental health has really suffered recently and the last time I can remember being happy was a quiet walk in the woods. But I guess that’s not in the “spirit of lockdown”.

It's an abuse of power. The officers concerned should be facing misconduct proceedings.

Seriously, it’s not difficult to just stick to the rules

They were, the 'rules' as enshrined in the relevant legislation. Unless you think the Police should be able to make up their own laws?

They don't define 'local' and never will.

I don't understand their coffees though. They were in Costa cups so did they fill them at home and bring them along, as they said?

I wonder if they would have been stopped if they had been dressed in full Gortex gear and more like walkers?

I thought the police maybe picked on two very attractive women, dressed and made up really nicely, (IMO) to make a point, (no sure what point) whereas two 'ramblers' might have got away with it.

@JellyBabiesSaveLives

The issue isn’t whether the walkers were being sensible or whether they were bending the rules. The issue is that our police force were telling people they were breaking the law when they were not. They gave penalties and ordered people to go home without any legal authority to do so.

Exactly.

I would argue that they are in fact doing things in the spirit of lockdown.

For many, walking out of their front door means meeting a fair number of other people, crossing over the road to pass safely etc.

driving to a large open air place means a walk away from others, or with enough distance to pass safely.

Safely exercising v. pavement walking?

Much better to drive the 5 miles and walk

People who live where I do are stuffed if they drive to their nearest supermarket, we are in South Yorkshire, the supermarket 5 minutes down the road is in Derbyshire as is the petrol station, nearest paper shop & convenience store as ours has closed down. Cross the nearest main road that is 1 minute from where I live & you are in Derbyshire.

The issue is that our police force were telling people they were breaking the law when they were not. They gave penalties and ordered people to go home without any legal authority to do so.

Excellently put. The police cannot just start making up rules and enforcing them as if they are the law. Their role is to enforce the law, the law hasn't been broken. In fact by fining people who are not breaking any laws surely it could be argued they are acting unlawfully?

sorry they were Starbucks cups

@JellyBabiesSaveLives

The issue isn’t whether the walkers were being sensible or whether they were bending the rules. The issue is that our police force were telling people they were breaking the law when they were not. They gave penalties and ordered people to go home without any legal authority to do so.

Exactly.

We don't want to live in a police state.

This is exactly what happened in the first lockdown.