Ignoring lockdown: The men who came to North Yorkshire to collect a TV, while others drove 100 miles to view a second-hand car

The Dewsbury men travelled to North Yorkshire despite the measures, which are in place to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The new restrictions now mean people should only leave their home for infrequent shopping for basic necessities, one form of exercise per day, for a medical need, such as a doctor, or to go to work, but only if this cannot be done from home.

However, officers from North Yorkshire stopped many drivers during the bank holiday weekend who were "blatantly ignoring" the restrictions.

This includes the two Dewsbury men who drove to York to collect the TV - despite not being insured to drive the car.

It also includes a Bradford man who drove 42 miles to purchase some hand sanitiser, and two men from Nottingham who drove over 100 miles to have a look at a second hand car they were considering buying.

Officers from the Roads Policing Group said: "During the 1st part of the bank holiday weekend, we have stopped a number of people who were either oblivious to or blatantly ignoring the current restrictions on travel.

"Some examples of the journeys we encountered recently were as follows:

"Two males from Nottingham who drove over 100 miles to look at a 2nd hand car they were thinking about buying.

"Two males who drove from Dewsbury to York to collect a TV they had arranged to buy on Facebook - worse still was the fact that the driver wasn't insured for the car.

"A couple who drove from their home in Stockton to York just for a drive.

"A male who was heading from London to the Lake District for a social visit to family.

"A van being used to collect household rubbish at 10pm.

"A group of 4 males from Oldham who came to Grassington to buy a car and didn't insure it before setting off back.

"A male who came 42 miles from Bradford to buy hand sanitiser.

"An uninsured provisional licence holder out for a drive by himself in Sherburn in Elmet.

Officers added: "We will continue to proactively target those vehicles which we suspect are being used in contravention of the Covid 19 regulations.

"Our aim will always be to engage with, educate and encourage people to comply with them, however for more serious/unnecessary breaches such as some of those listed above, we are also enforcing them by issuing fines."

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