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Dog walker says she ‘felt like a criminal’ as cops pulled her over for driving five miles to the beach

A PET owner was made to "feel like a criminal" by police after bringing her dog for a walk on her local beach.

Tanya Wood, 50, took her partner Caron and their dog Poppy to a beach in north Wales, a five-minute drive from their home.

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 Tanya Wood with her dog poppy
Tanya Wood with her dog poppyCredit: Daily Post Wales

She told North Wales Live that she was approached by an unmarked police car while she was sitting in her car near the beach.

The 50-year-old telecommunications engineer said a police officer walked up to her in the car and questioned her as to what she was doing.

Ms Wood said that the police officer asked for the postcode of her home address.

She said: "Having explained that my partner and I live locally and have no garden to exercise our dog, I was told I shouldn’t have driven to the beach but should have walked there instead as it would only take five minutes, as he said he knew where I lived.

"I felt I was being interrogated, and he made me feel like a criminal with all the questions. He said the lockdown would only be for three weeks, and when I told him I thought it would last a lot longer than that, he replied, 'Yes, because of people like you'."

She added: "I was shocked that he said such a thing, and now I’m too scared to go out in case I get stopped again."

The force has not commented directly on the officer’s exchange with Ms Wood on March 24, but said it was necessary for police to ensure that lockdown measures were being complied with.

In official guidelines, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that people should not travel more than five minutes to go somewhere for exercise.

Ms Wood said, as her partner has numerous health problems including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and since she is diabetic, she makes sure she comes into contact with as few people as possible.

Ms Wood added: "If I had walked to the beach it would have taken me 30 to 40 minutes, as they have closed our local section of the beach for sea defence work.

"This would mean [my partner] being out of the house for longer and passing people in a more confined space on the pavements to take our dog to an open space to exercise.

"I’m still working as I’m classed as a key worker. It seems acceptable for me to drive 90 miles to work on a job, so I just can’t see the problem of driving five miles down the road to walk my dog."

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Earlier today Wales announced that they would be extending its lockdown to beyond Easter weekend.

Britons have been living under restrictions on movement for the last number of weeks in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus.

It was announced by the Welsh government that the measures will remain in place beyond the original three-week timeframe laid out by the British government last month.

Matt Hancock has even threatened a total ban on outdoor exercise if people continue to ignore the lockdown measures.

Under the drastic rules set, Brits are expected to stay indoors and only go outside for essential shopping trips, medical reasons, one stint of daily exercise and to work from home if possible.

Anyone who flouts the new crackdown will face fines of up to £1,000 or even arrest when cops are given emergency powers.

Police also now have the power to issue on-the-spot fines of £30 for meeting under the new legislation.

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