Traffic officers from North Yorkshire Police have been stopping motorists on the border between North and West Yorkshire to offer advice about the changes to Covid 19 rules and guidelines.
It follows the end of the recent nationwide lockdown.
North Yorkshire is in Tier 2 and East and West Yorkshire are in Tier 3.
That means people from places like Howden and Pontefract are asked not to make non-essential trips into places like Selby and York. The Government advice says visiting to have a meal out is not a good reason.
Officers have been using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to identify where cars are coming from, matching plates with addresses. They have been stopping vehicles entering the Selby district asking where people are going and why they making the journey.
But Inspector Martin Wedgwood accepts that travel restrictions are guidance and not enforceable. He says that officers want to engage and educate people about the risks.
The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Julia Mulligan, told BBC Look North that she accepted the advice was guidance not the law. But she said that coming across Tiers for a day trip or meal was not appropriate.
She said that police could issue fixed penalty notices to people in pubs who were breaking actual law.
For example that would be large groups of people from different households gathering together or visiting someone’s house (If they are not in your bubble) Something that isn’t allowed in Tier 2.
Travelling into or out of a Tier 3 alert level area (East and West Yorkshire)
Source – Gov.uk
Avoid travelling outside your area, including for overnight stays, other than where necessary, such as:
- for work
- for education
- to access voluntary, charitable or youth services
- because of caring responsibilities
- for moving home
- to visit your support bubble
- for a medical appointment or treatment
Where necessary, you can travel through other areas as part of a longer journey.
If you live in a Tier 3 area, you must continue to follow Tier 3 rules when you travel to a Tier 1 or Tier 2 area. You must not stay with anyone you do not live with elsewhere in the UK or visit their home (unless you share a support bubble).