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

epm-84

twhitehousescat said:

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 

Some off licences do sell bread and milk, so it's possible by them being allowed to remain open that some people don't need to travel as far to get essentials.

epm-84

twhitehousescat said:

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 

You have missed that the majority of UK banks now allow you to pay in to your bank account or take out money, at a Post Office counter.  In fact in some cases, with bank branches closing, the only local option some people have for paying in a cheque would be at the Post Office. 

Also, while supermarkets are going priority for online delivery to customers over 70, the current government guidelines does not say they must stay in self-isolation.

soolin

An interesting twist on the woman who was fined for loitering at a railways station , it appears that the fine might be unlawful
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-fine-woman-660-for-breaching-coronavirus-lockdown-laws-at-train-station-5ftr9ql0f

unfortunately you can’t read the full transcript on my link without paying, but most newspapers are now carrying the story. 

twhitehousescat

spotted , 

QuackQuackOops

ailey said:

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.

Sorry, but I dont believe that.
A walk to the post office could be that days exercise.
They could be posting essential supplies or items to a vulnerable person.
Lots of reasons to be posting items.

Pollycat

QuackQuackOops said:

ailey said:

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.

Sorry, but I dont believe that.
A walk to the post office could be that days exercise.
They could be posting essential supplies or items to a vulnerable person.
Lots of reasons to be posting items.

The problem is that there has been lots of reports about some police forces being 'heavy-handed' in dealing with people during this lockdown.

I think when the new powers were brought in, Lancashire police issued lots of fines for breaches of lockdown rules during the first weekend whilst other forces issued none.

We don't know where this allegedly happened.

But I agree - it is only hearsay.

And the fact that the board guide for the eBay board says this:

soolin said:

NBLondon said:

Yes....   and then being arrested for being evasive.  As opposed to the OP being about hearsay about someone being fined for posting a parcel.

No, I belong to several eBay type forums and this has not been raised on any of them. In fact with several thousand (probably hundreds of thousands) members in many of these forums no one has even yet been stopped by police and asked why they were out. Many sellers have closed their eBay shops now so the pool of people still using the post office is getting smaller but is still fairly significant. 

leads me to be somewhat sceptical about 'somebody told me that...'.

epm-84

Pollycat said:

The problem is that there has been lots of reports about some police forces being 'heavy-handed' in dealing with people during this lockdown.

I think when the new powers were brought in, Lancashire police issued lots of fines for breaches of lockdown rules during the first weekend whilst other forces issued none.

According to a report on the local BBC News my local police force have reportedly issued fines to people who have purchased non-essential items - the report didn't make clear whether that related to people going out specifically to buy non-essential items or what the non-essential items were.

I've also seen on the North West Motorway Police's Twitter account they said they fined someone for driving to collect their eBay purchase when it was a non-essential item - I believe it was panes of glass for a DIY project.

I think it's a fair assumption of the government's rules to say if you are allowed to travel for work if your job can't be done from home then someone who is a business seller should be allowed to go to a fairly local post office, sorting office or courier's drop off point to send the items their business sells but perhaps should make as few journeys as possible.  For private sellers and buyers it's a bit more of a grey area - if your online purchase is faulty and it's something you need for work or health reasons then you could argue it's essential that you need to be able to return it but is visiting the Post Office to drop off any item allowed?

Pollycat

epm-84 said:

Pollycat said:

The problem is that there has been lots of reports about some police forces being 'heavy-handed' in dealing with people during this lockdown.

I think when the new powers were brought in, Lancashire police issued lots of fines for breaches of lockdown rules during the first weekend whilst other forces issued none.

According to a report on the local BBC News my local police force have reportedly issued fines to people who have purchased non-essential items - the report didn't make clear whether that related to people going out specifically to buy non-essential items or what the non-essential items were.

I've also seen on the North West Motorway Police's Twitter account they said they fined someone for driving to collect their eBay purchase when it was a non-essential item - I believe it was panes of glass for a DIY project.

I think it's a fair assumption of the government's rules to say if you are allowed to travel for work if your job can't be done from home then someone who is a business seller should be allowed to go to a fairly local post office, sorting office or courier's drop off point to send the items their business sells but perhaps should make as few journeys as possible.  For private sellers and buyers it's a bit more of a grey area - if your online purchase is faulty and it's something you need for work or health reasons then you could argue it's essential that you need to be able to return it but is visiting the Post Office to drop off any item allowed?

I read that too.

North West = Lancashire maybe?

But the initial report in this thread has not - as yet - been substantiated.

It's a pity that there is not nationwide agreement of how police should deal with people whom they perceive to be breaking Government advice on lockdown.

epm-84

Pollycat said:

epm-84 said:

Pollycat said:

The problem is that there has been lots of reports about some police forces being 'heavy-handed' in dealing with people during this lockdown.

I think when the new powers were brought in, Lancashire police issued lots of fines for breaches of lockdown rules during the first weekend whilst other forces issued none.

According to a report on the local BBC News my local police force have reportedly issued fines to people who have purchased non-essential items - the report didn't make clear whether that related to people going out specifically to buy non-essential items or what the non-essential items were.

I've also seen on the North West Motorway Police's Twitter account they said they fined someone for driving to collect their eBay purchase when it was a non-essential item - I believe it was panes of glass for a DIY project.

I think it's a fair assumption of the government's rules to say if you are allowed to travel for work if your job can't be done from home then someone who is a business seller should be allowed to go to a fairly local post office, sorting office or courier's drop off point to send the items their business sells but perhaps should make as few journeys as possible.  For private sellers and buyers it's a bit more of a grey area - if your online purchase is faulty and it's something you need for work or health reasons then you could argue it's essential that you need to be able to return it but is visiting the Post Office to drop off any item allowed?

I read that too.

North West = Lancashire maybe?

But the initial report in this thread has not - as yet - been substantiated.

It was on the M6 between Knutsford and Alsager so the incident occurred in Cheshire.  However, it was the Motorway Police who are a regional force, not the standard police who have a separate force in each county.  North West Motorway Police would also cover Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria.

soolin

epm-84 said:

Pollycat said:

The problem is that there has been lots of reports about some police forces being 'heavy-handed' in dealing with people during this lockdown.

I think when the new powers were brought in, Lancashire police issued lots of fines for breaches of lockdown rules during the first weekend whilst other forces issued none.

According to a report on the local BBC News my local police force have reportedly issued fines to people who have purchased non-essential items - the report didn't make clear whether that related to people going out specifically to buy non-essential items or what the non-essential items were.

I've also seen on the North West Motorway Police's Twitter account they said they fined someone for driving to collect their eBay purchase when it was a non-essential item - I believe it was panes of glass for a DIY project.

I think it's a fair assumption of the government's rules to say if you are allowed to travel for work if your job can't be done from home then someone who is a business seller should be allowed to go to a fairly local post office, sorting office or courier's drop off point to send the items their business sells but perhaps should make as few journeys as possible.  For private sellers and buyers it's a bit more of a grey area - if your online purchase is faulty and it's something you need for work or health reasons then you could argue it's essential that you need to be able to return it but is visiting the Post Office to drop off any item allowed?

In the windows case the people drove over 200 miles to collect something in person , I would hope no eBay seller would have to drive 200 to their closest mail drop centre or PO.