British worst excuses to poke fun at blockade, including ‘try catapult’

A police force has listed some of the absurd reasons people have given them to ignore the blockade.

Gwent police in Wales said most people followed the advice to stay home, but that “a small minority selfishly put others at risk.”

Those who have been caught doing so have been fined, the force said.

The revelations came after a Surrey family said they were going on a 265-mile trip to Cornwall to “ease the pressure of the exam.”

Some of the ridiculous excuses that members of the public have offered include:

• I’ve been buying nail clippers for the dog
• My son is a garbage cook, so I bring him food every day.
• I am going to take a ride on my quad bike and I promise I will not ride it in a field
• I just fed the fish
• I don’t see the news, what’s going on?
• I’m taking my partner to Newport to buy drugs.
• I thought I heard someone might be in trouble, so I came to have a look, but I don’t know their name or remember the person who told me.

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Police officers have the power to stop and ask you where members of the public are going, and to issue fines if they don’t think you’re following the new rules correctly.

Fines can start at £ 30, but could increase if people repeatedly ignore the rules.

Gwent’s Deputy Director Amanda Blakeman said: “We understand this is a difficult time for all people.

“The vast majority of our communities adhere to guidance and we are grateful for the real difference they are making.

“A small minority continues to go against these guidelines.”

The North Wales police have had to refuse the Snowdonia hikers.

Motorists who were detained near Snowdon in North Wales also made imaginative excuses.

They included:

• I drove from Birkenhead to walk to Snowdon because I was bored
• I took a 52-mile round trip to buy CBD oil
• I’ve driven from Norfolk ‘to swap a motorcycle’
• I’ve driven from Shropshire ‘to pick up a mommy table’
• I came from Birkenhead ‘to pick up a bed’

It comes after a group of ten tourists in two separate cars were stopped by police on the A5 in Bethesda, having driven nearly 250 miles by convoy from London to North Wales to scale Snowdon.

The force tweeted: “A group of 10 people stopped at 2 vehicles on A5 #Bethesda earlier, having traveled from London with the intention of taking a ride in Snowdonia.

“They told me to go home immediately and escorted him back to the A55. Reported for violating # COVID19 legislation.”

A spokesperson added: “We despair, we really do.”

“Please, please stay home.

“The Coronavirus is affecting all parts of the UK, nowhere is it immune to it.