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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Helen Carter

What Stay Local means for travel and is it enforceable by police?

The 'Stay at Home' edict which has been in place throughout the latest coronavirus lockdown in England has been replaced by 'Stay Local' from today, Monday March 29.

But what does it mean and is it legally enforceable?

The change means that it is the end of Step One of Boris Johnson 's four phase easing of lockdown restrictions in his roadmap.

It means families and friends can see each other again outdoors and in private gardens as long as it involves two households or six individuals meeting.

Although the 'Stay home' rule is ending, it is being replaced by guidance from the government that people should 'stay local'.

No guidelines have been issued to clarify what this specifically means. Whether local means three, 10 or even 50 miles from your home.

Police can't issue fines for people in breach of the 'Stay Local' rules (Derbyshire Police)

But the roadmap says as a result of the changes "people will no longer be legally required to Stay at Home."

People should continue to "minimise travel wherever possible and should not be staying away from home overnight at this stage".

Earlier this year, two women were fined £200 each for driving five miles to go for a walk. Police later apologised and said officers had been mistaken.

Effectively, the risk of a fine is reduced as a result of a change.

You could technically legally visit family members who live a few hours' away in another part of the country and not be fined, even though this is not in the spirit of 'stay local'.

If you decide to do this, you must also stick to the rules of only meeting outdoors and maintaining social distancing.

The advice is to stay local, so it would be sensible to follow the guidance, despite it not being illegal.

And people who are tempted to travel further afield - on a foreign holiday, for example, risk being slapped with a £5,000 fine if they try and leave the country from today.

Under new Covid laws, published by ministers last week, people are officially banned from travelling abroad without a reasonable excuse.

People at airports or international train stations could be slapped with a fine.

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