UK lockdown: Police apologise for ‘ill-judged’ tweet saying people shouldn’t buy plants or compost

‘Let’s not sugar-coat it, it was over enthusiastic,’ says police and crime commissioner

A police force has apologised for an “ill-judged” tweet that said people should not buy plants or compost.

Cumbria Roads Police said on its Twitter account members of the public should only visit DIY shops and gardening centres if they are buying supplies of essential repairs.

The initial tweet, which has now been deleted, said: “We are seeing an increasing amount of traffic on Cumbria’s roads, especially around DIY outlet.”

It added: “Travelling to such outlets should be for tools and supplies for essential home and garden repairs, not for compost, plants and soft furnishings.”

The account later apologised for any offence caused, and said it would not be investigating the contents of people’s trolleys.

Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner Peter McCall told BBC Radio Cumbria the message was “ill-judged” and “over enthusiastic”.

He said: “Let’s not sugar-coat it. It was over enthusiastic and it was ill-judged in my view, I did see it, but in defence of the officers, they’re in a really difficult position trying to maintain this lockdown, and naturally everybody’s getting really bored with the whole thing, the weather continues to be good, so policing it is a real challenge.

“If you’re going into a DIY centre it’s not for the police to decide a tin of paint is essential and compost is not and I don’t think the police actually want to get engaged in that at all, the point behind it really is that maintaining the lockdown is important for us all, it does seem to be working in suppressing the infection rate.

“The police in Cumbria are certainly not going to be rifling through your shopping, whether it’s from a supermarket or anywhere else. We’ve all got better things to do.”

Some police forces have been criticised for their strong-arm tactics, such as the use of drones, in other parts of the country during the coronavirus lockdown.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, previously said police in general had done a good job throughout the Covid-19 crisis – but admitted some forces may have gone too far.

Derbyshire Police was criticised earlier in March for using drones to film walkers in the Peak District and posting some of the footage on social media to deter people from travelling to the area.

While Cambridgeshire Police was forced to backtrack on a tweet from one of its officers after they patrolled the “non-essential aisles” at a supermarket.