Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Grenlei · 27/01/2021 21:19

As was said upthread it's the distinction between must and should.
Exercise is should stay local. Should is advisory, not compulsory. Precisely for the reason that not everyone can exercise locally.

ithinkyouareveryrude · 27/01/2021 21:20

@babbi

Family of police officers here .... NO WAY were there 6 police officers even available together on shift in the same place to surround anyone. Manning levels are dire at the best of times never mind now when so many are self isolating etc ... you’d struggle to get a team together to attend a riot in some areas at the minute ... And really does anyone really believe 6 officers would attend a pram pushing incident- ever ?!

Absolute nonsense... if she was spoken to it was a max of 2 cops

PP put it far more articulately than I.
Darbs76 · 27/01/2021 21:20

In lockdown 1 the government said stay local, don’t drive etc but this time they’ve not made it clear so it’s a bit much fining people. Personally I’m doing the same as lockdown 1, I’m just walking to the local dog walking park, not driving to other places. That seems to be be the right thing to do

Nefbachmorf · 27/01/2021 21:20

Nah.

PeterOhanrahahanrahan · 27/01/2021 21:20

Yeah, the police have nothing better to do in a pandemic than hang around in groups of 6 waiting for mums with newborns to surround and harass.

BonnieDundee · 27/01/2021 21:21

More likely she was questioned by one or two officers after travelling far further afield than she claims, she gave them lip and they issued her a fine.

If police officer's wife posts that you can get a fine because the police dont like your attitude, this is the most worrying thing I have read since the start of the pandemic Sad

Is that your husband's attitude? And crucially would he treat a 18 stone male body builder the same way?

fireplaceburning · 27/01/2021 21:21

How funny. You'd be lucky to get 6 police men in the same place where I live. I'm sure they've got time to wait at the beach in that scenario Hmm

HibernatingTill2030 · 27/01/2021 21:21

@HitchFlix

Well where I live we're explicitly told to stay within 5km of our home so it's pretty clear? Aren't the rules similar where you are? So if she's outside the allocated distance then The police were just doing their job?
It doesn't sound like you're in the UK, the guidance here is to stay "local", which I suppose means your town? But not everybody has decent places to walk within walking distance of their house, if that makes sense! 3 miles is not a massive distance, 30 maybe would be taking the piss, but I would definitely appeal it if I was her.
Rainb0wDrops · 27/01/2021 21:22

I've driven up to 5 miles from my house to give our walks a bit more variety (beach/woods/pond). I have also lost count of the amount of times I've walked around my housing estate.
We have had months and months of lockdown and walks are the only thing we have. I will make them more interesting while still sticking to the guidelines of staying locally. I've not been stopped but if I was I would feel confident I am within the law/guidance.

Legseleven1990 · 27/01/2021 21:22

[quote nancybotwinbloom]@Legseleven1990

I'm just saying what I was told today.

I think it's accurate because I trust my friend. That's all.

[/quote]
You were told by someone who was told by someone else. You don't know the someone else. Trusting your friend wouldn't give you false information intentionally doesn't mean she wasn't herself fed false information which more than likely was a highly exaggerated version of events.

Honestly this is how rumours get started, and how misinformation is spread. Its complete hearsay, and shouldn't be told as if its fact.

TurquoiseDragon · 27/01/2021 21:22

If she's in England, the police can't actually fine for distance, can they? Nothing is specified in law, so if she went to court, it is likely to be overturned.

And guidance is not law. It's the same situation as those ladies in Derbyshire. Police are getting heavy handed.

MustardMitt · 27/01/2021 21:24

I'm sure what your friend told you is an accurate representation of what she was told. I'm not so sure that the mother didn't embellish slightly! Six police officers!

00100001 · 27/01/2021 21:25

@HitchFlix

Well where I live we're explicitly told to stay within 5km of our home so it's pretty clear? Aren't the rules similar where you are? So if she's outside the allocated distance then The police were just doing their job?
5k is 3.1 miles,
CoffeeRunner · 27/01/2021 21:25

I can’t get past anyone thinking a beach is a good place to walk with a pram!

Wildswim · 27/01/2021 21:26

She needs to appeal. This is outrageous, if true.

She needs to contact the Daily Mail.

And why is it always women that are targeted by police?

00100001 · 27/01/2021 21:26

Ah, the old reliable fact relaying method.of " a friend of a friend told me..."

Definitely true then...

demelza82 · 27/01/2021 21:27

Clearly a lie or exaggeration

Elai1978 · 27/01/2021 21:28

Here’s some further clarification from the NPCC for those that need it:

UK Government guidance strongly requests that people do not leave their local area. However, the Covid Regulations which officers enforce and which enables them to issue FPNs for breaches, do not restrict the distance travelled for exercise.

“Police officers will be inquisitive about why people are out of their homes and will explain the regulations and encourage people to comply. Where people are breaching the regulations and are away from home without a reasonable excuse, they may be issued with a FPN. In situations where people are breaching the guidance not to travel out their local area but are not breaching regulations, officers will encourage people to follow the guidance.

BonnieDundee · 27/01/2021 21:28

To be fair I can think of many.places.where there is a large wide prom that's nice and flat and would probably describe that as.going for a walk at the beach. I dont know the particular beach OP is referring to so can't comment on it.

BoKatan · 27/01/2021 21:29

If this is true then she needs to appeal.

The police can't issue fines based on government guidance. The can only issue fines based on the law. There is no limit on travel for exercise in the law.

It's the government guidance that states that you should stay local. But that is not the law.

FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue · 27/01/2021 21:29

There were definitely at least 4 police officers patrolling my local park last weekend, at the same time. For all those saying the police couldn't possibly spare even 2 officers.

RedskyBynight · 27/01/2021 21:29

On the basis that the entirety of England's police force seems to be based around beaches and other beauty spots where they lie in wait for unsuspecting exercisers, criminals in other parts of the country must be having a field day.

MereDintofPandiculation · 27/01/2021 21:29

I believe this also in Liverpool and I know someone who got fined for
Driving three miles for a walk also. She shouldn't have been. There is no basis in law for a fine for travelling for exercise.

ItsGoingTibiaK · 27/01/2021 21:31

For those that just don't understand the difference between guidance and the law, here is the relevant legislation. This is what the police can enforce. They cannot enforce guidance.

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1374

The relevant exception for leaving the home to exercise is as follows. It makes no reference to exercise being local, whether or not one is able to drive to a place to exercise or anything similar.

(c)to take exercise outside—
(i)alone,
(ii)with—
(aa)one or more members of their household, their linked household, or
(bb)where exercise is being taken as part of providing informal childcare for a child aged 13 or under, one or more members of their linked childcare household, or
(iii)in a public outdoor place, with one other person who is not a member of their household, their linked household or their linked childcare household,

When Derbyshire police made their public mistake earlier in January, the NPCC issued further guidance emphasising to police officers the what they can and can't enforce:

“UK Government guidance strongly requests that people do not leave their local area. However, the Covid Regulations which officers enforce and which enables them to issue FPNs for breaches, do not restrict the distance travelled for exercise.

“Police officers will be inquisitive about why people are out of their homes and will explain the regulations and encourage people to comply. Where people are breaching the regulations and are away from home without a reasonable excuse, they may be issued with a FPN. In situations where people are breaching the guidance not to travel out their local area but are not breaching regulations, officers will encourage people to follow the guidance."

www.derbyshire.police.uk/news/derbyshire/news/news/forcewide/2021/january/force-welcomes-new-guidance-from-npcc-around-about-travelling-during-lockdown/

MuthaHubbard · 27/01/2021 21:32

@Elai1978

Err no you can't - being outside of the area in which you live without reasonable excuse for doing so is legislation and being very much enforced by police in Cumbria - they issued a lot of covid tickets this weekend just gone from what I understand

Complete nonsense. You are allowed to leave the house for exercise, end of. There is no law which dictates how far you can travel for that exercise. If they are doing as you say then they are acting illegally as the fines will be thrown out by a court.

You are allowed out to exercise but to travel over 100 miles to do so is not reasonable. As others have said, lockdown regulations state: exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person (in which case you should stay 2m apart). Exercise should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.

Part of my job relates to this area and Cumbria have successfully issued tickets and gone on to prosecute people for exactly that. Link is from first lock down but is valid again now as rules are largely the same again now:
www.google.com/amp/s/cumbriacrack.com/2020/10/15/seven-fined-for-breaching-covid-regulations/amp/

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.