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A police force is reviewing the fixed fine notices issued during the latest national shutdown after two friends were told their hot drinks were in violation of the law as they were “classified as a picnic.”
Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore received notices of £ 200 fines for alleged violations of lockdown rules while walking through a remote location about five miles from their homes in Leicestershire.
Derbyshire police said the women could have exercised closer to their homes and described their actions as “clearly not in the spirit of the national effort” to reduce travel and the spread of the coronavirus.
The force said that all fixed fine notices will be reviewed after receiving clarification on coronavirus regulations from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), which informed them that “Covid regulations that officers enforce and that allow them to issue FPN (notices of fixed fines) in case of non-compliance, do not restrict the distance traveled to exercise ”.
Derbyshire Police said: “All fixed ticket notices during this relevant period that have been issued will be reviewed for compliance. All recipients will be contacted. “
Allen, who lives in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, described the decision to fine her for being at the Foremark Reservoir on Wednesday as “crazy.”
She told the BBC: “While we were driving there was a police van, a police car and there were a lot of policemen there.
“I really thought someone had been killed; the place is usually so quiet.
“Next thing, my car is surrounded. I got out of my car thinking, ‘There’s no way they’re coming to talk to us.’ They immediately begin to question us.
“I said we had come in separate cars, we even parked two spaces away and even brought our own drinks with us. He [a policeman] He said, ‘You can’t do that because it’s classified as a picnic.’
Allen said he is taking the pandemic “very seriously” because his brother is a doctor who works in a Covid ward in London, and his parents have had coronavirus.
The current lockdown guide advises the public to limit exercise, including running, cycling, swimming, and walking, to once a day and says that while people can leave their home, they should not travel outside of their area. local.
Exercise is allowed within a group on the same property, or when alone with one person from another household.
Assistant Force Police Chief Kem Mehmet added: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, Derbyshire Police have been working to understand ever-changing guidance and legislation and to communicate this to our officers in a way Make it clear what is the correct course of action to take.
“We are grateful for the guidance from the NPCC and our officers will continue to use the 4E approach. [explain, engage, encourage, enforce] And, of course, it will encourage people to follow the guidance and, where appropriate, address breaches of regulations.
“Our officers’ actions continue to be to protect the public, the NHS and help save lives.”
