Sussex Police issues 74 fines in a week to drivers making ‘unnecessary journeys’

Sussex Police said the fines had been issued in the space of a week, between Friday, April 17, and Friday, April 24. A spokesman said that the reasons given to officers over the past week had included: – Driving from Essex to Chichester to collect a Bonsai tree at 2am – Driving from London to take photos of the stars at Beachy Head – Driving from Manchester to visit a friend in Brighton with your young child – Driving down from London to visit a friend who is in self-isolation as they are showing coronavirus symptoms– – Driving to a police station in the middle of the night to beep the car horn at officers to “waste police time” Simon Burroughs, Temporary Chief Inspector, said: “Please take a moment to think about the impact your actions during the coronavirus crisis are having on public health”. “We want you to be able to look back on this challenging time and be proud of your efforts to protect the NHS and save lives. “We’d like to give a huge thanks to those doing their bit and following the guidance, which includes not meeting up with other people from outside your household or making unnecessary journeys. “At the moment we’re asking those considering coming down from other counties to visit Sussex to stargaze, go on road trips, visit friends or for any other unnecessary reason to please stay at home. “We will be patrolling our rural and urban communities over the weekend, continuing our approach of engaging with the public and explaining why it is important to do the right thing and follow government guidance. However, we will be using enforcement where necessary. “The message is crystal clear - stay home, protect our NHS and save lives.” A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton: In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. Stay safe, and best wishes.