Police turned away hundreds of cars from beauty spots this weekend and broke up a party after revellers travelled 120 miles to attend – while in London a woman was stopped and quizzed by officers after going to buy coffee two miles from her home.
Merseyside Police turned away more than 100 cars from Formby Beach and handed out 20 fines, while at Dovestone Reservoir near Oldham visitors were hit with penalty notices for parking on the pavement.
Video shot in London on Saturday showed a woman shouting at police that ‘it’s not a crime to stand in the street’. The woman claimed she was put in handcuffs after being confronted by four officers.
Footage shows the woman telling officers that she lived ‘two miles away’ in Battersea, south west London, and had joined a friend and their 13-year-old son for a walk.
It comes as plunging infection figures, the success of the vaccine rollout and lockdown weariness among Britons have left police struggling to enforce the Covid restrictions.
Video shot in London on Saturday showed a woman shouting at police that ‘it’s not a crime to stand in the street’. The woman claimed she was put in handcuffs after being confronted by four officers
Merseyside Police turned away more than 100 cars from Formby Beach on Sunday and handed out 20 fines
A sign at Formby Beach saying the car park was full after hundreds of visitors flocked there on Saturday
Hundreds of cars were turned away from Formby Beach in Merseyside on Sunday (pictured are vehicles crowding on a road near the spot)
The woman shouted: ‘It’s not a crime to stand in a street – I’m social distancing – when I go in the shop, I had a mask. We’ve come from two miles away – two miles away.’
One of the officers responds: ‘We’ve explained it to you – it’s not legal to come from Battersea.’
The friend then turned to passers-by and said: ‘Everyone, if you don’t live in the area, you’re not allowed to be here. It’s against the law. I come from Battersea, two miles away, and they’re saying I can’t be here. This is the state of the law, and this country.’
Meanwhile, Merseyside Police Superintendent Graeme Robson said the ‘good weather’ had seen a dramatic rise in visitors to Formby beach, with some coming from as far afield as Leeds, Manchester and Stockport.
‘It is quite frankly astounding,’ he said.
‘Now more than ever people should be taking heed of the advice, so that infection rates can continue to drop, and we can meet the criteria necessary for easing lockdown in the upcoming weeks and months.’
On the Isle of Wight, six volunteers were hit with £100 fines by police for helping to touch up the clubhouse of local team Ventnor FC.
George Creighton, 28, said his friends were all abiding by social distancing guidelines, and added: ‘If you walk your dog up Ventnor Football Club and think it’s okay to report people that are volunteering their free time to paint the football club to the police.’
Well-wishers have already donated to cover the cost of the fines.
In Ferryhill, County Durham, officers raided a house party to find that revellers had travelled from as far as Blackpool – 120 miles away – to be there.
And at Dovestone Reservoir in Oldham, drivers were hit by parking fines on Sunday afternoon after several cars were seen parking on the pavement near to the popular beauty spot.
Under current government guidance, people are only allowed to leave their homes for a limited number of reasons.
People can go out to exercise, which can be with up to one other person from outside their household or bubble.
The exercise should ideally be limited to once per day, and guidance is that people should try to do this locally.
The Met said about the Battersea video: ‘We are aware of a video circulating on social media which captures part of officers’ interaction with members of the public. ‘Enquiries are ongoing to establish the events and outcome.’While the Government’s roadmap contains positive news, the Met’s message is clear – now is not the time for complacency.
A parking warden handing out a fine to a car parked on the pavement by Dovestone Reservoir in Oldham
cores of cars lined the road up to Dovestone Reservoir, in Oldham, yesterday afternoon
A car that was hit with a parking fine on Sunday as hundreds of people flocked to Dovestone reservoir
Large crowds on Crosby Beach in Merseyside on Sunday amid a spell of pleasant spring weather
It comes as a ‘clueless’ couple who put to sea in a rubber boat and nearly swept away were given a strict telling off by the coastguards after being rescued.
The husband and wife, who are in their 50s, launched the eight-foot-long inflatable, without wearing life jackets, thinking the freezing water looked quite calm.
But they were soon blown out to sea off Seaton, Devon, by a north easterly breeze, prompting a local fisherman to raise the alarm.
Coastguards from Beer rushed to the beach and searched for the couple using binoculars, but were unable to locate them until another fisherman also called 999 to say he had seen them struggling in the sea, two miles further along the coast.
The rescue operation rapidly relocated and found the exhausted couple on the beach.
After getting into trouble they had desperately paddled to get around a headland and out of the wind, and were about to call 999 before they managed to paddle back towards the beach.
A couple set out to sea in a rubber boat in Seaton, Devon, and had to be rescued by the Coastguard
The couple were blown out to sea off Seaton, Devon, by a north easterly breeze, prompting a local fisherman to raise the alarm (file picture, Seaton)
They were given a ticking off by coastguards about safety and, with their dinghy deflated, sent away on foot.
A spokesman for Beer coastguard has now said the couple had a lucky escape.
Terry Hoare said: ‘They thought it was a nice day and the sea looked calm so fancied a leisurely paddle.
‘They were spotted as they launched by a local fisherman who could see straight away what was going to happen.
‘They are very lucky he did see them and call us because it meant we were aware of it early on.’
