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Original poster

Driving 3 miles to beach and fined £200

402 replies

nancybotwinbloom · 27/01/2021 20:01

A friend of a friend drove three miles to her nearest beach and took her newborn for a walk in the pram.

She was surrounded by police and fined £200.

This was today.

I think it must of been scary to be surrounded by police with the pram and the newborn. Surely only one of them needed to speak to her. Not mob handed. Or are they all unreasonable?

Is it unreasonable to drive three miles for a walk? I'm at a point now I can't work out what's local and what's not. I don't think she was in the wrong in all honesty.

Or is it that she drove there that it's not local enough.

I walk nearly three miles to the park with the dog and walk through the park and walk back most days and I don't think I am unreasonable?

What is local classed as these days?

OP posts:
FrostyChocolateMilkshake · 27/01/2021 22:32

"A friend of a friend" stories are usually Chinese whispers.

I would take this with a pinch of salt.

SabrinaMorningstar · 27/01/2021 22:32

This is such a perfect sad-face Daily Mail story . Well, except for the dragging a pram across the sand . . . and putting so much effort to take a newborn for a walk that you break rules to do so ... and the police being mob-handed ...

LovingBob · 27/01/2021 22:34

@SabrinaMorningstar

This is such a perfect sad-face Daily Mail story . Well, except for the dragging a pram across the sand . . . and putting so much effort to take a newborn for a walk that you break rules to do so ... and the police being mob-handed ...
What rules were broken
NotGenerationAlpha · 27/01/2021 22:35

She drove there so it’s not local. Simple as. I thought know this already.

I don’t agree with it personally. But I have stopped driving to local places to walk. Instead I talk my car out once a week to drive on the motorway and back without stopping to stop the battery from dying.

It’s madness really.

MrsClatterbuck · 27/01/2021 22:38

@Goodbye2020Hello2021

I'm less concerned about the story going from a friend of a friend to a colleague of a colleague of a friend - that's a whole extra degree of separation from the truth - than you going walking on the beach with a dead dog GrinGrinGrinGrin
Yes I was a bit Confused at this tnh
JM10 · 27/01/2021 22:38

I'm fed up of people making up their own rules about what we are and aren't allowed to do for exercise. People.on this thread (and every other covid thread) state things as fact that are not law, just their opinion.

LovingBob · 27/01/2021 22:38

Boris was driven 7 miles and it was said that was local this was only 3 miles

Melange99 · 27/01/2021 22:40

I have driven 12 miles to go for a walk before. I see nobody except DH during the week. He goes shopping once a week, that's our public contact. We work at home. We are as contained as we can be. We get in the car, and drive away from our area to walk in woods etc. I feel no shame. I am not near anybody, I would be if I stayed local. I am doing what I think is best for my health and safety. At the stage where I am thinking for myself.

ItsGoingTibiaK · 27/01/2021 22:41

@NotGenerationAlpha

She drove there so it’s not local. Simple as. I thought know this already.

I don’t agree with it personally. But I have stopped driving to local places to walk. Instead I talk my car out once a week to drive on the motorway and back without stopping to stop the battery from dying.

It’s madness really.

If you read any of the many replies on this thread that explain, in quite a lot of detail, the difference between guidance and law, then you'll realise it's not "simple as".

Or, rather, you'd see that what is "simple as" is that it isn't against the law to drive somewhere to exercise, and so police have no powers to enforce it.

Tiktokersmiracle · 27/01/2021 22:42

Why does this not surprise me
Seems like women are easy pickings to police these days. After the BLM movement it's too risky to pick on minority groups so women are the next best thing

I've started being an advocate for women local to me now to challenge thuggish, bullying behaviour by male officers, they use scare tactics to bully women who wil be too embarrassed to fight back or to point out no rules have been broken.
I've been harrassed myself more than once.

I actually think @MNHQ should consider a campaign against sexist abuse of power by the police forces of this country.

Melange99 · 27/01/2021 22:42

Boris cycled 7 miles.

Providora · 27/01/2021 22:43

I'm in Melbourne where we had a hard 5km limit for exercise last year.

I was stopped and ID checked by a 'mob' of 4 police and 2 soldiers while walking along the beachfront one day. They were friendly so it wasn't intimidating, but it was quite surreal!

Pugliandreamer · 27/01/2021 22:44

Well she can probably make the £200 back by selling her story to the national rags so I wouldn't worry

Sparklingbrook · 27/01/2021 22:49

I can see her sitting on the This Morning sofa (or on video call) with Phil and Holly looking incredulous.

LucyLockdown · 27/01/2021 22:49

Unfortunately Formby Beach has had a lot of piss-takers causing all sorts of trouble since the summer, and there is often a noticeable police presence now because of this.

They give 'visitors' one chance to voluntarily clear off. Then it's a ticket.

Nope, still can't give a ticket for not breaking the law.

LucyLockdown · 27/01/2021 22:51

Out of curiosity, do we have any stats on how many people have caught or spread Covid while walking outside in a place that they drove to rather than walked to? Is it the main source of transmission these days?

Sisiwawa · 27/01/2021 22:56

Sounds like she's exaggerating about a nob of police surrounding her.
I think its unreasonable to drive anywhere to walk. I've only walked within a mile radius of my home, and yes, its getting very boring but i wouldnt go further as thats being selfish, in my opinion.

Sisiwawa · 27/01/2021 22:56

Mob, not nob, although...!

Cherrysherbet · 27/01/2021 22:59

I have no sympathy. We are in National lockdown. 100k people have died. You are allowed to go out to exercise within your local area.......you shouldn’t drive to do this.

The rules are simple. Don’t follow them, and you will be fined.

Nicknacky · 27/01/2021 23:02

@Cherrysherbet So what law did this woman break (assuming this is genuine)?

BonnieDundee · 27/01/2021 23:03

I have no sympathy. We are in National lockdown. 100k people have died. You are allowed to go out to exercise within your local area.......you shouldn’t drive to do this.

Nowhere does the law state this. Your opinion doesnt matter. The law matters.

The rules are simple. Don’t follow them, and you will be fined.

She did follow the rules and was still fined.

Rainb0wDrops · 27/01/2021 23:03

@Cherrysherbet

I have no sympathy. We are in National lockdown. 100k people have died. You are allowed to go out to exercise within your local area.......you shouldn’t drive to do this.

The rules are simple. Don’t follow them, and you will be fined.

But the rules in England do not say this. They say stay in your local area and to me 5 miles is local.
LucyLockdown · 27/01/2021 23:09

But the rules in England do not say this.
They say stay in your local area and to me 5 miles is local.

The rules don't say this. The guidance says this. Guidance is not the law. Just saying.

ImsorryWilson · 27/01/2021 23:20

“I shouldn't of posted it in hindsight, I just felt like a gab about it on here.”

I am totally stealing this for my Threads Go Wrong situations.

Jessica60 · 27/01/2021 23:24

Never heard so much rubbish. You would be lucky to have 6 police officers available to be patrolling in our area.

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