The leader of Leeds City Council has told the government to "take the necessary action" after Dominic Cummings travelled 260 miles in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown.
The incident has sparked outrage across the country and Cummings - who is prime minister Bors Johnson's chief aide - appeared before cameras on Monday in an unprecedented event to defend his actions.
Speaking on Thursday, Cllr Judith Blake said that she has spoken to several MPs in Leeds, who told her they have "never known a situation that has triggered such a response".
She said: "It's very clear there's been major consternation from the public in terms of one law for one and one law for others.
"That argument is still continuing [and there is] huge disquiet being expressed.
"I've spoken to MPs and they've never known a situation that has triggered such a response from the public.
"The public are very, very upset and many are coming forward with their own personal stories of decisions that they've made which have had a major impact on their families."
'It is a concern that this will have an impact on behaviour'
Speaking about whether the actions of Cummings might lead people to become less wary of lockdown rules themselves, the council leader said: "It is a concern that this will have an impact on behaviour.
"It's an issue that the government needs to take very seriously and take the necessary action to restore confidence in the measures people are being asked to conform to."
Durham Constabulary have now released a statement on Cummings' trip from London to Durham, which happened on March 27 - less than a week after the PM issued stringent rules to stay at home and for people to self-isolate if they had symptoms.
They confirmed that the stay on his family estate while he was believed to have coronavirus was not a breach of the regulations, but the police force admitted that "there might have been a minor breach" in regards to his later trip to Barnard Castle.
The statement said: "Durham Constabulary does not consider that by locating himself at his father’s premises, Mr Cummings committed an offence contrary to regulation 6 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020. (We are concerned here with breaches of the Regulations, not the general Government guidance to “stay at home”.)
"On 12 April 2020, Mr Cummings drove approximately 26 miles from his father’s property to Barnard Castle with his wife and son. He stated on 25 May 2020 that the purpose of this drive was to test his resilience to drive to London the following day, including whether his eyesight was sufficiently recovered, his period of self-isolation having ended.
Durham Constabulary have examined the circumstances surrounding the journey to Barnard Castle (including ANPR, witness evidence and a review of Mr Cummings’ press conference on 25 May 2020) and have concluded that there might have been a minor breach of the Regulations that would have warranted police intervention. Durham Constabulary view this as minor because there was no apparent breach of social distancing."
