Couple who travelled 120 miles to seal watch at Norfolk beauty spot handed Covid-19 fine

The couple were found to have made the 120-mile plus journey from their home in Wellingborough to visit Horsey

Two people who travelled from Northamptonshire to visit a Norfolk beauty spot have been fined as officers increase enforcement in a bid to support their NHS colleagues.

The couple were found to have made the 120-mile plus journey from their home in Wellingborough to visit Horsey to see the seals on Thursday 7 January.

Local officers carrying out patrols around 4pm approached the couple in the beach car park after vehicle checks revealed it was registered to an address outside of the county.

The man and woman, both aged in their 50s, admitted they had travelled to see the seals and were consequently issued with a fixed penalty notice.

Officers across the county will be carrying out dedicated COVID-19 patrols in areas such as town centres and beauty spots to make sure people are adhering to the lockdown rules.

Officers will stop and speak to people and ask about the reasons for being away from their home address.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Julie Wvendth, said: "The ‘stay at home’ rule is clear; you should only leave your home for a reasonable excuse such as food shopping, caring for someone who is vulnerable and for one form of exercise a day. If you do need to leave home for any of these reasons, you should stay local. 

"The government have outlined that staying local means staying in the village, town or part of the city where you live. It’s our responsibility to adhere to this no matter how tempting it is to travel for a change of scene.

"Contrary to reports on social media, we are not carrying out road blocks to check the reasons for people travelling. Officers will use their discretion, as they routinely do in the course of their duties, when dealing with people who have travelled away from their home. We will be proportionate in our approach but if we find people are blatantly breaking the rules, we will issue fines.

"We are almost a year into this pandemic; people know the rules and the risks associated with breaking them, so people do not have any excuse for not knowing what is expected.”

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