Durham Police issue new statement on Dominic Cummings' controversial visit to region

Durham Police has issued a new statement regarding Dominic Cummings' controversial visit to County Durham.

The police force has been asked to investigate sightings of the top government advisor in the county after Mr Cummings admitted making a 264 mile trip from London to the North East while suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.

It follows a statement released on 23 May from the Acting Durham Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner who said Dominic Cummings' visit to Durham was "most unwise".

• Full statement from Durham Police:

In a statement read in Downing Street's rose garden, Mr Cummings said his decision to drive from London to County Durham was based not only on fears over a lack of childcare if he became incapacitated with COVID-19 but also concerns about his family’s safety.

Mr Cummings said: “I don’t regret what I did. I think reasonable people may well disagree about how I thought about what to do in the circumstances, but I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances.

“The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances.

“And I think that the situation that I was in was exceptional circumstances and the way that I dealt with it was the least risk to everybody concerned if my wife and I had both been unable to look after our four-year-old.”

Mr Cummings admitted travelling to Barnard Castle by car to test if he was fit to drive the full journey back to London due to concerns over his vision after recovering from illness.

Read more:

• Timeline: How the Dominic Cummings controversy unfolded

• Dominic Cummings: 'I don’t regret what I did'

• Boris Johnson backs Dominic Cummings over alleged County Durham lockdown breaches

• Who is Dominic Cummings and how did he get to No.10?

• 'Dominic Cummings Was Lurking Here': Joke blue plaque pokes fun at alleged visit to Barnard Castle