Fines issued to tourists who travelled 170 miles to Durdle Door

They'd come all the way from Coventry

Author: George Sharpe Published 12th Jan 2021

Police have handed out two fines after two car loads of tourists visited a Dorset beauty spot at the weekend.

The sight-seers came from Coventry, a 340 mile round trip, when they were stopped by officers in the Durdle Door car park.

It happened on Saturday morning while Dorset Police were carrying out proactive patrols of the area.

Two people were handed fixed penalty notices for breaching COVID-19 regulations.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said:

“Travelling over 170 miles for exercise is completely unacceptable.

"The Government is calling for people to stay at home and only leave for a limited number of reasons, this includes for exercise.

"Our officers, including our dedicated COVID-19 patrol officers, will continue to use a 4 Es approach of escalation, where they will engage, explain and encourage people to follow the regulations.

"Where this is not effective, then enforcement action will be taken when reasonable, proportionate and in line with COVID-19 regulations.”

As per the Government guidance, ‘stay local’ means stay in the village, town or part of the city where you live.

You can read the full guidance here.

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