Scotland travel ban: Police issue 33 fines for breaching Covid restrictions
People can only leave council areas in Level 3 and Level 4 for essential reasons
Police have issued at least 33 fines to people breaching the travel ban in Scotland since the restrictions came into force last week.
The fixed penalty notices for moving out of Level 3 and Level 4 council areas start at £30 but repeat offenders may have to pay up to £960.
Nine fines were issued in Lothian and Borders, eight in Greater Glasgow and eight in Lanarkshire.
Another eight fines were split between five other police divisions, with three in Tayside, two in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, and one each in Ayrshire, Forth Valley and North East.
More than two million people live in the 11 council areas under the toughest Level 4 coronavirus restrictions, which include the city of Glasgow. A further 10 local authority areas are in Level 3, including Edinburgh.
Officers were given the power to enforce a ban on people travelling outside their area for non-essential reasons from 6pm last Friday, 20 November.
However Police Scotland said they would not be setting up road blocks or routinely stopping vehicles despite the change in the law.
Assistant chief constable Alan Speirs said: "Officers may in the course of their duties come across people who are travelling from one local authority area to another. In areas where travel restrictions apply, officers will continue to use the common sense, discretion and excellent judgement that they have applied since the crisis began."
John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister, had admitted that the new restrictions would be very difficult to enforce. He added: “If someone was stopped by police — a very unlikely circumstance — on the way to a hospital, if they were to explain they [were] going to hospital for a critical appointment that would be the end of the matter. They don’t need to have paperwork to substantiate that and I don’t envisage it happening.”
Police Scotland said the 33 travel fines were issued in the period from 6pm on Friday 20 November to Wednesday 25 November.
The force also issued a further 359 Covid-related fixed penalty notices over the seven days up to 25 November, according to its weekly bulletin. There were also 33 arrests.
It has issued more than 5,500 fixed penalty notices in relation to coronavirus regulations since the start of the pandemic.