People flooded into Holyrood Park following Nicola Sturgeon's announcement yesterday (28 May) that lockdown would be easing slightly to allow picnics and sunbathing - but only from 29 May.
However, it seems that people believed that the rules had already been relaxed as they played sports, shared picnics and enjoyed the sun, despite the First Minister imploring Scots not to take the announcement as an excuse to crowd beauty spots just hours before.
The sunny weather attracted hundreds of people, some gathering in large groups, following the announcement that some limited meetings would now be allowed outside.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon explained that as the first phase of easing lockdown measures, people from two different households would be allowed to meet outside, as long as they maintained social distancing. This change took effect today (29 May).
She also said you can only meet with one other household per day, and that the total number in both households couldn't exceed eight people.
Speaking following the announcement, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said:
"People should still only leave the house for very limited purposes, for example for basic necessities, for exercise or recreation, for medical needs or travelling for work which cannot be done from home."
“Our officers will continue to engage with the public, explain the legislation and guidance and encourage compliance.
"We will use enforcement as a last resort only where there is a clear breach of the legislation."
“We are asking people to take personal responsibility to do the right thing and remember the purpose of these measures is to aid the collective effort to protect the NHS and save lives by preventing the virus from spreading.
“We recognise that people have made significant sacrifices until now and while the temptation may be to head straight for one of our beauty spots, we would ask people to use their judgement and avoid going to places which are normally busy during the good weather."
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“Complying with the legislation about meeting only one other household outdoors at any one time and following the Scottish Government's guidance about avoiding travelling long distances will stop our parks, beaches, lochs and hills from becoming over-crowded and help ensure appropriate physical distancing is maintained, reducing the spread of coronavirus.
“We want people to enjoy our outdoor spaces safely and our officers will be robustly tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in our communities.”
