TEAMS of neighbourhood police officers have been carrying out vehicle stops across Devon to make sure the public understands Government rules on what an ’essential journey’ means.

A police spokesman said: ‘The compliance was generally good, however, it was disappointing to see that some people were risking public safety in order to make unnecessary journeys to complete trivial and non-essential tasks.’

The worst examples of this included going to cut a family members grass – with the whole family in the car; to bank a cheque; to collect a piece of wood to build a garden shed; and to collect a garden chair.

The spokesman continued: ‘This kind of behaviour is unacceptable. It is irresponsible, and you are ignoring guidelines that are very clear. Officers are considering proportionate police action in each of these cases, and the list is not exhaustive.

;We have had many questions about driving to remote locations to walk dogs or exercise, and our advice is this: if you are stopped by police and your journey reason is that you are going to walk your dog, it is NOT deemed to be an essential journey. You may exercise locally, from your home address, this is the safest way for yourself, and for the wider community.

‘Please be considerate when making these decisions.’