There may be a national lockdown at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped some people from attempting some pretty reckless daytrips.

Earlier this week, Essex Police revealed some of the reasons officers had dished out Covid fines to people flouting the rules – and stay at home advice.

This included people traveling long distances for a takeaway, and even coming to Essex for a car cruise.

But sadly, there have been plenty more instances of people doing crazy things during lockdown.

Here are just a few examples of people not understand the ‘essential’ journey advice:

Visit to sea fort

Three men made headlines earlier this week by traveling 150 miles to Southend to visit a sea fort.

The trio, who came from Staffordshire on got into a rib and set off in an attempt to reach the Red Sands Sea Fort in Whitstable.

But they soon got into difficulty on the water and had to be rescued by emergency services.

They were brought into Sheerness Docks where they told officers they had intended to spend the night at the sea fort.

The men, aged between 31 and 41, were issued with fines for breaching Covid-19 regulations, Kent Police said.

Echo:

Assistant Chief Constable Claire Nix said: “Whilst the vast majority of people continue to abide by the latest Government guidelines to help stop the spread of the virus, it is incredibly frustrating that there are still a small minority who think the rules don’t apply to them.

“We have seen examples of people who are not only behaving selfishly, but also putting unnecessary strain on the emergency services with their reckless actions.”

Illegal football match

A man was slapped with a £200 fine for arranging an illegal football match.

About 30 parents watched their children play in the match which was staged in Laindon Common Road, Billericay.

Essex Police initially said no laws or Covid breaches took place after the organiser claimed he was linked to a Premier League football club.

A spokesman said: “Based on this information officers took a view that this activity was allowed under the regulations on elite sport and no breach of COVID-19 regulations had taken place.

"However, following further enquiries we now believe what officers had initially been told was not the case, the match had not been arranged by an elite level football club, and the match did breach the Government’s regulations.

"We’re now taking enforcement action against those involved and yesterday we have issued a man from Witham a £200 fine.”

New Year’s Eve rave

Hundreds of revellers attended a New Year’s Eve party at a historic church in Horndon, near Brentwood.

The party-goers had broken into the church and set up the illegal event, despite Essex being in a Tier 4 lockdown which required everyone to stay at home except for essential travel.

Echo:

Officers were pelted with objects and threatened when attempting to shutdown the illegal event.

They were eventually able to disperse the large crowd and seize music equipment found in the church.

Several arrests have since been made but police but no one has been charged.

80-mile trip to see seals

A Colchester man who travelled 80-miles with his children to see seals in Norfolk was fined by police.

Officers in Norfolk say they stopped and fined more than 30 people on one weekend at the start of January who were flouting Covid-19 restrictions.

Fines were predominantly issued in coastal areas of the county to people who were mixing households or those who had travelled some distance to exercise.

This included fines given to a man who travelled from Colchester to Horsey, near Great Yarmouth, with his children to see seals.

The animals can be found at Horsey Gap Beach all year round with the seals having pups until early February.

Echo:

The round trip would mean the family travelled 160 miles.

Another woman from Colchester was also slapped with a fine for making a 120-mile round trip to Norwich to deliver a birthday present.

Essex Police says the majority of people in the county have been doing the right thing by staying indoors and following lockdown rules.

But the force says it has been left with little choice but to take action against a handful of people who have defied the rules.

These include:

  • A woman from Braintree who was fined £200 for failing to self-isolate despite testing positive for Covid-19.
  • Fines to four people from different households who travelled together from Maldon to Chelmsford for a takeaway - Quadbikes were seized in Tiptree following reports of nuisance riding in woods on January 16.
  • Officers in Epping stopped two people who had travelled 25-miles from Grays to High Beech to go for a jog. One fine was dished out.

Echo:

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We would like to thank the public of Essex for doing the right thing in continuing to stay at home and protect the NHS.

“We continue to take a common-sense approach to policing the Government guidelines, by first engaging with people, before explaining the situation and encouraging them to do the right thing.

“However, when there are clear and blatant breaches we will pursue enforcement.”