Fines Being Issued For Exercising Out Of Your Local Area?

[Paul]

South Derbyshire Police have been patrolling local beauty spots and issuing fines to people who have travelled there to "exercise". One such location is the National trust property of Calke Abbey where fines were issued to people who had driven less than five miles to visit. Having been reported in the local press this has gone viral on local facebook groups with others coming forward to say they have been fined by Leicestershire Police at the country park in the village here having travelled from neighbouring (and I mean directly adjacent) villages.

Both forces have been heavily criticised already for their policing of COVID restrictions, I was wondering if anyone else has seen anything similar in their local area?

[OldBerkshireBoy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-55560814

I would happily drive 5 miles to meet either lady  I wonder if things might have been different if one of them had had a dog with them?

[Meantime]

Interesting extract from the above story. I believe it was Wales that set a legal limit on travel of 5 miles. Removes much of the ambiguity in the current legislation. I suspect those two will have their FPNs overturned fairly soon. 

How far can you travel for exercise?

Guidance issued by the Cabinet Office states that people can leave their homes for exercise but should not travel outside their "local area".

However, the actual legislation does not specify a maximum distance that people are allowed to travel for exercise.

Both the guidance and legislation state people can exercise with one other person, as Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore did.

Human rights barrister Adam Wagner said: "There is no law against travelling to exercise. The guidance is not legally binding and the police have no power to enforce it unless it is reflected in the lockdown regulations which in this case it is not."

 

[Mouldy]

I wonder how far anglers will travel to exercise sitting on a stool.  I might buy a rod and reel and sit on a bench in the park behind our house to practice as there isn’t a river nearby!

[Smoggy]

Get that magnetic fishing game mentioned in the other thread.

[JennyMorgan]

An NHS friend had just left off work and driving home when she was pulled over by Plod. She had her NHS pass but she doesn't wear a uniform. Plod got a bit heavy, last thing she wanted after a stressful day, questioning her as to whether she had actually been at work. Hope that he doesn't get Covid, he might be in danger of a high pressure, rectal blast!

[Meantime]

1 minute ago, Mouldy said:

I wonder how far anglers will travel to exercise sitting on a stool.  I might buy a rod and reel and sit on a bench in the park behind our house to practice as there isn’t a river nearby!

As long as you don't take a hot drink with you, you should be ok!

[Paul]

6 minutes ago, Meantime said:

I suspect those two will have their FPNs overturned fairly soon. 

It's not just those two, the local press is reporting the number of tickets issued over several days of "active operations" runs into the hundreds

 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

2 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

I wonder how far anglers will travel to exercise sitting on a stool.  I might buy a rod and reel and sit on a bench in the park behind our house to practice as there isn’t a river nearby!

Sorry but I don`t think you are allowed to use the bench to practise casting your line.  

[Paul]

1 minute ago, Meantime said:

As long as you don't take a hot drink with you, you should be ok!

not the case, angling is not a permitted exercise, the absence of water is irrelevant

[grendel]

any key worker should have been issued with a covering letter to show if stopped, i know my company issued them back at the beginning of november. as if we cant get where needed people could lose their electricity.

[Meantime]

1 minute ago, Paul said:

not the case, angling is not a permitted exercise, the absence of water is irrelevant

I thought the Angling Trust had sorted that one! Apparently it is now!

[TheQ]

2 minutes ago, Paul said:

not the case, angling is not a permitted exercise, the absence of water is irrelevant

Ha Meantime beat me to it.. Angling is now permitted..

[Paul]

So that will now be the golfers after a rule change too

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Is 8 people getting dressed up in lycra and cycling two abreast in order to chat allowed as witnessed yesterday. 

[MaceSwinger]

3 minutes ago, grendel said:

any key worker should have been issued with a covering letter to show if stopped, i know my company issued them back at the beginning of november. as if we cant get where needed people could lose their electricity.

My wife works in an Amazon fulfilment centre and they've all been given a script letter stating that they're an Amazon employee and are needed to be in work. All I've been told from the off last March is if I'm stopped to flash my ID, give my unit and why I'm travelling. I must admit that I've started travelling in combats a bit more than I usually would.

As for Leicestershire police...well, they issued a £200 to a friend of a friend for travelling for 8 minutes to exercise. And they've been heavily criticised on the "locals" groups for being more interested in handing out fines to people exercising alone than breaking up student parties and drug dens.

[Meantime]

Just now, Paul said:

So that will now be the golfers after a rule change too

This is starting to feel like groundhog day! I'm keeping out of this debate, or the thread might get locked.

[Mouldy]

2 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Ha Meantime beat me to it.. Angling is now permitted..

Still don’t get it.  The guidelines state that time spent outside should be minimised.  That accompanied by the questionable exercise derived from dangling a line attached to the end of a rod whilst sitting on a stool still baffles me.  Even more so when one is allowed to fish from a boat, powered by an outboard motor, which surely limits the potential for exercise at all.

On the other hand, we are told to open our windows to let Covid out and fresh air in when at home.  More and more confused by baffling and contradictory guidelines.

[JennyMorgan]

There was a local TV news report last night to the effect that the local police are actively advising motorists to stay at home. Why should anyone object to that? All power to Plod on this one, they really shouldn't need to be out there wasting their time 'advising' people to stay at home. 

[Paul]

Mouldy hits the point on the head, something which has been my bugbear all along. We have police enforcing government advice, not UK Law, it's a very dangerous precedent.