Scotrail silenced a shopper who publicly asked them on Twitter if they'd mind them using their trains to visit a lower tiered council area in order to do a spot of (non-essential) Christmas shopping.
The Twitter user wrote: "I am in Glasgow need some Christmas shopping, Do you think anyone will mind or will i be questioned by the police, when I get on the train to Edinburgh or will it be ok?"
Under current government guidance and law, people living in level three or level four areas should not leave their council area apart from traveling for essential purposes. Glasgow is in level four - the highest level of restrictions and the one closest to March's full lockdown.
Last week Nicola Sturgeon urged Glaswegians not to travel to Edinburgh for Christmas shopping purposes, describing it as 'totally unessential'.
Scotrail took a straightforward response to the shopper's question with: "We'd recommend not breaking the law and staying in the assigned tier given by the Scottish Government."
However, another Edinburgh local tweeted that there had been a rise in shoppers coming from Glasgow.
She wrote: "And yet Sturgeon was claiming today that there hadn't been an upsurge in shoppers in Edinburgh at the weekend. She just can't stop lying!
"I can confirm that there were loads of Glaswegians shopping in Edinburgh, and they were all openly chatting about how they escaped lockdown!"
Scotrail also added advice for those with concerns re shoppers from Glasgow coming to Edinburgh, writing:
"If you have concerns regarding the law being broken, you should alert this to British Transport Police. You can text them on 61016. We don't have the powers to enforce the law."
