A taxi owner was left furious when he took an emergency fare - only to discover a family of five plus a dog had broken down after driving 30 miles for a walk in the country.
David McDougall, owner of Aberfeldy Taxis, was asked to pick up an older couple, a younger couple and a small child, as well as the pet, from Griffin Forest car park near Aberfeldy.
The family told David their car had broken down and they had to get back to Perth.
He then had to make two trips to take them into town to get a bus.
David was speaking as a number of other reports of people in the region ignoring lockdown restrictions came to light this week.
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David told the PA: “What part of ‘stay at home’ don’t folk get?
“These people had come from Perth all the way to Aberfeldy just to get a nice walk with the dog. But their car broke down.
“It’s not just an expensive mistake, they put others at risk by their selfish behaviour.
“It was bizarre. The man told me on the phone his car had broken down and they were stranded. He wanted to get down into town to find a bus to get back to Perth.
"So, understanding they were stuck up there, I agreed to collect them.
“I went to meet them at Griffin car park, only to find this was five people and a dog which is too many for the taxi as I need everybody to sit in the back due to coronavirus.
“As it was, because they had a young child, I took the gran, the mum and the son in one trip and went back for the men and the dog.
“My blood pressure went through the roof when the man who’d called me admitted that they had come from Perth for a walk in the wood as they ‘fancied somewhere different’ to walk the dog.
“Lord knows how they got back to Perth. They were pretty put out to realise that there wasn’t a bus till later.
"All that time they were mixing with locals around Aberfeldy.
“What were they thinking (or not thinking) - a 60-odd-mile round trip just to walk the dog.
“It’s more than a bit excessive and with the clear restrictions for coronavirus we all observe, unnecessary.”
