UK Council Leader urges MPs for stricter travel rules in England after Durdle Door’s weekend beach chaos following the tombstoning incident

UK Councillor Vicki Slade has called on England’s MPs for stricter travel rules after witnessing Durdle Door’s beach chaos following the incident, which left three seriously injured on Saturday, as a result of tombstoning (as reported).

YET, even after Dorset police declared the beach closed, hundreds of people descended on the beach the following day (Sunday). Not only did the beachgoers flout local orders, but they left a “staggering amount of litter”, according to the authorities.

After witnessing the irresponsible behaviour across the area’s beaches, from not complying with social distancing to illegal parking, Slade – who is the Councillor of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council – wrote to local MPs as well as the Chief constable of Dorset Police, urging them “for stricter travel rules”. According to Slade, many of the beach visitors over the weekend had travelled from another county.

Although the general advice from the Government in England is to remain in your local area as much as possible, there are currently no set limits regarding how far people are allowed to drive to visit family or friends in the country.

In Slade’s letter to the MPs, she stated: “We have seen crowds on our beaches, in large groups clearly not from the same household. We have had council officers spat at, abused and intimidated as they go about their work; and I am asking you all to go back to ministers in Westminster and ask them to put a travel restriction on England, as they have done in Wales and Scotland. In those devolved nations you can only travel five miles from home for reasons other than work or risk fines, and I am asking that a similar policy is brought in for England with immediate effect.”