Local Police have fined a lady for going to the Post Office with an EBay parcel

ailey

The assistant in my local Post Office told me today that a lady had been fined for taking her EBay parcel to the Post Office as they said that it's not essential to go out for that. I walked along with my parcel, as my daily walk, as it's only 5 minutes along the road. He's a sensible person and wouldn't have told me that if it was wrong.

Just wondering now if I should end all my items. I take it that EBay hasn't set anything up where we can store our listings until the lockdown is over? Would be good if they would do that for the current times.

forgotmyname

Its medical supplies for a family member. Its a food parcel for a family member who cannot go out..... etc etc...

RFW

I find it hard to believe, unless they'd travelled some distance to the Post Office. I'm still selling stuff but I can post it in a box at the end of our street once I've labelled it up. Given that online selling is allowed and, in some cases, encouraged by the government then if it is true there has to be more to it.

General_Grant

I'm not a fan of EBay but would it not count as work.  Work doesn't have to be essential to be continued.

ailey

I don't know any more details about this lady but, with so many Post Offices closing over the last few years, she maybe had to walk much further from her home to reach the Post Office.

twhitehousescat

it seems to me that legislation was rushed thu , post offices were one of the first places to be allowed to remain open , the likes of the 90 yr old granny have gone , no more "dole giros" , so what other reason for using a post office ? to send a letter perhaps 
off li8cences are now allowed to stay open , whats going to happen next , every customer given a ticket ? beer and cigis are not essensial 

so a report on faceache earlier , shop owners being harrassed by police for selling easter eggs , again , not essensial 

sometimes the police just act on there own , reminds me of the film "the fuzz" ,,, for the better 

as stated above "hot fuzz" and proved to be wrong 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52090441

Spoonie_Turtle

One police force tweeted about giving people summonses (sp?) for multiple members of the same household shopping for non-essential items, for coming back from parties, and for going out for a drive to relieve boredom. While the shopping one may have been understandable, aren't the only places still open those classed as essential? Bit of a grey area in some people's eyes. Going for a drive is not quite legislated for - it's not quite in the spirit of staying home but a careful driver not getting into accidents is no risk of spreading the virus. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes on the verified account, I wouldn't have believed it - so yes, I do believe being fined for taking a parcel to the PO is very possible!
(I do wish the actual legislation reflected the urgency and the spirit of the original broadcast of the guidance, it seems they wimped out of it somewhat!)

Edit: source https://twitter.com/PoliceWarr/status/1244163251799195649

twhitehousescat

ahh , press release from the 5 yr old in the press room 
"Overnight 6 people have been summonsed for offences relating to the new corona virus legislation to protect the public"

incorrect , the legislation states that anyone guilty will be given a fix penalty , not Summonsed 

the list of allowed premises are listed as 

• Supermarkets and other food shops
• Pharmacies
• Off-licences and licensed shops selling alcohol, including those within breweries
• Petrol stations
• Newsagents
• Bicycle shops
• Home and hardware stores
• Launderettes and dry cleaners
• Garages
• Pet shops
• Post offices
• Banks

note off licences were added at a later point , the context of an off licence is that they sell beer , supermarkets sell beer so why were off licences added added? 
hot fuzz 

twhitehousescat

royal mail "sorry you were out card " please collect from "xx" post office , failure to collect will result in parcel being returned 
is that a dare , 

Spoonie_Turtle

twhitehousescat said:

ahh , press release from the 5 yr old in the press room 
"Overnight 6 people have been summonsed for offences relating to the new corona virus legislation to protect the public"

incorrect , the legislation states that anyone guilty will be given a fix penalty , not Summonsed 

the list of allowed premises are listed as 

• Supermarkets and other food shops
• Pharmacies
• Off-licences and licensed shops selling alcohol, including those within breweries
• Petrol stations
• Newsagents
• Bicycle shops
• Home and hardware stores
• Launderettes and dry cleaners
• Garages
• Pet shops
• Post offices
• Banks

note off licences were added at a later point , the context of an off licence is that they sell beer , supermarkets sell beer so why were off licences added added? 
hot fuzz 

Well indeed! If only the police had the resources to be quite so zealous in ordinary times (though I'm not suggesting they should always be going beyond the letter of the law, just that it would be nice if they had the resources to deal with Actual Crimes the rest of the time).

twhitehousescat

easy money time now , very few cars on roads , pick one at random and stop it 
cant link to this , facebook closed group but 

[url=https://ibb.co/P1fnvqP][img]https://i.ibb.co/KV3kpTf/fuzz.png[/img][/url]

police driving up and down a deserted street on a cousil type housing estate on sat night at 8pm , sirens on , lights on and loud hailer "do not leave your houses" , as if there was a bloody gun man on the loose , this went on for several hours 
one bobby looks after 500 people
hot fuzz