Group fined under Covid rules when car crashed on 50-mile trip to ‘look at snow’
A group of people from different households have been fined after travelling more than 50 miles to ‘look at the snow’ before crashing the car.
The driver and three others piled into the BMW in St Helens, Merseyside, to head out to the beauty spot in Bamford, in the Peak District, on Saturday.
But the driver lost control of the car in the icy conditions, causing it to roll on its side in the middle of the road.
The High Peak response team arrived at the scene to find the car had toppled and the windscreen had smashed and all four had to be rescued by firefighters.
No one was injured in the crash.
Derbyshire Constabulary handed the group fines for flouting Covid rules after they struggled to explain the purpose of the trip to officers.
Police said: ‘Four people travelled more than 50 miles from St Helens to Bamford, to “look at the snow”, but resulted in rolling their car on its side.
‘The four vehicle occupants were from different households. Is this essential? No.
‘All were issued with Covid-19 tickets #StayHomeSaveLives.’
Fines for breaking Covid rules begin at £200 in England and Northern Ireland but increase for repeat offenders.
It comes after four friends from different households were fined £800 for driving 68 miles to get a McDonald’s takeaway – despite there being several branches of the chain closer to their homes.
The friends set off from the Manchester area and were pulled over on the A50 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, over the weekend and police fined them for breaking lockdown rules.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, another four people were issued with fixed penalty notices for attending a gathering at a flat in Salford on Saturday.
Several members of the group had posted pictures and footage of themselves dancing and popping bottles at what appeared to be a birthday party to Instagram, prompting social media users to report them to police.
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