'Trip to see nana' claim leads to five Covid fines after BMW ends up in field 40 miles from home

A car full of people from an East Durham village have been given Covid breach fines after their car ended up bogged down in a field off the A66.
By Fiona Thompson
Published 2nd Mar 2021, 08:04 BST
Updated 2nd Mar 2021, 09:27 BST
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North Yorkshire Police’s road policing unit was alerted to the stranded black BMW 1 Series in the early hours of today, Tuesday, March 2, in a turn of events its officers have deemed “bizarre”.

As officers attended the scene of the crash, they established the five people in the car had travelled into the county from County Durham and claimed they had been travelling to see their grandmother – who lives Peterlee just the next town from their home village of South Hetton.

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A photo shared by North Yorkshire Police of the BMW after it became stuck in a field off the A66 near Richmond.A photo shared by North Yorkshire Police of the BMW after it became stuck in a field off the A66 near Richmond.
A photo shared by North Yorkshire Police of the BMW after it became stuck in a field off the A66 near Richmond.
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The incident not only led to their vehicle being pulled out of the muddy field by a recovery truck, but proved costly as the force fined them for breaking Covid rules.

The Fixed Penalty Notice for for the first breach of lockdown rules is £200, which then doubles for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400.

A spokesperson for the team said: “Fortunately for this BMW driver he drove off the A66 near Richmond into a muddy field rather than get more lost than he already was.

“We were called to this at 3am this morning by a concerned passer by having seen orange flashers in the field.

North Yorkshire Police said the car became bogged down after the driver tried to get it out of the field.North Yorkshire Police said the car became bogged down after the driver tried to get it out of the field.
North Yorkshire Police said the car became bogged down after the driver tried to get it out of the field.
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"The driver claimed he had swerved for ‘something’ ending up in the field, his efforts to drive it out just bogged it down further prior to our arrival.

"Bizarrely the five occupants from County Durham had been visiting Nana...the journey of five miles between South Hetton and Peterlee had bizarrely extended to 40 miles, encompassing the Richmond area.

"Luckily, Nana was safely at home and can await these five returning back complete with Covid fines issued.

The wheels of the car sunk into the mud after it crashed off the A66. Photo by North Yorkshire Police.The wheels of the car sunk into the mud after it crashed off the A66. Photo by North Yorkshire Police.
The wheels of the car sunk into the mud after it crashed off the A66. Photo by North Yorkshire Police.

"Our officers used two Police vehicles to stop the traffic whilst the recovery driver extracted the car from the field.

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"All people having to come in one location unnecessarily just because people didn’t stay home.”

North Yorkshire Police has previously fined a man from Peterlee as part of poaching patrols after it found him in the Bedale area with two other County Durham as they claimed they were buying a dog from someone at a service station.

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