Two men caught driving from Oldham to Glasgow despite the coronavirus lockdown told police they were on their way to buy a car.
Road traffic officers in Cumbria described the encounter near Carlisle this afternoon.
The two men were in a Nissan vehicle that was stopped on the M6 near the junction with Kendal.
Officers said the occupants told them they were on their way to buy a car in Glasgow 'because it was cheaper'.
Writing on their official Twitter account, police said the 440-mile round trip was "not essential at all."
They added: "Stay out of Cumbria. Both reported for breach of Covid. Escorted back out of the county."
It comes as transport bosses in Greater Manchester revealed there has been a surge in motorists back on the roads despite government advice to 'stay at home' and avoid all but essential travel.
According to Transport for Greater Manchester there were 2.5 million trips on the region's road network on Monday, a 6 per cent increase on the previous week.
And the figure is 22pc higher than four weeks ago.
The Mayor Andy Burnham urged people to stick by the lockdown rules.
"We’ve noticed a definite increase of around 6pc on traffic on the roads in Greater Manchester over the last week," Mr Burnham said.
"We’ve also heard reports of people travelling on bus, rail and Metrolink who don’t seem to be making essential journeys for work, supplies, to care for others or for medical reasons.
"So, I want to appeal to the public to only make essential journeys and if your journey is not essential, do not travel – stay home and help to keep us all safe."
