How far from your house is still in your local area?

I wouldn't think seven miles is local but if the PM thinks it is...........?

and if the PM can so can we!?

I wonder if he cycled there or went by car.

Setting a brilliant example! What else could we expect?

This is the problem! Why can’t our government or any government lead by example? People will now feel they can go for 7 miles as the PM did. It makes me very ?

Did he have a 'picnic' a drinks bottle with him?

He had his bodyguards with him. Not sure how that fits with social distancing.

I’ve just had an email from the National Trust reminding me and all their other members that their grounds are open. I can prebook a slot.
Our nearest is about 15miles away but still in our local area. That is if the criteria is our District council area, I can hardly walk there if the rule is walk to exercise.
I suppose that if Boris rode his bike from his door to the park and back then he is obeying the rules.
I wish I had the energy and the confidence to ride that far on urban roads.

By car or bike does not make a difference it’s not local. Our shops are a mile away I go out just once a week to shop we are told to keep local. Can not see grandchildren only see them on WhatsApp. Therefore the government should practise what it preachers.

Ha ha!
Please see the walking thread!

Oh for goodness sake!

Redhead the difference is that he is exercising from door to door. Not driving to excercise.
I cannot believe I’m defending him??‍♀️

I would say 7 or 8 miles is fine for us because that gets us to several supermarkets, a bank and a dentist. Others will have to travel much further to access these. If you live in a town maybe the distance is less.

We travelled further last week for an hospital appointment. We went by car and were really shocked. It was just like a normal working day in our nearest city. It was after the rush hour too.

Sorry that's not really what thread is about!

I can't see the problem with the PM cycling that distance.

Maybe it depends if you live in a rural or an urban area. Some inner city areas are nowhere near parks and green spaces. Some rural areas have no amenities in their immediate area. Could this be why the guidance is so broad? It has to cover all scenarios.

It did make me wonder, though. Those two women walking in Derbyshire, five miles from their local areas, were fined, were'nt they?

If you are out cycling for an hour it can easily be 7 miles.

I may well be wrong (and often am), but I’d have thought it was within the rules as long as he started his cycle ride from his home and cycled back. In the same way that a runner could go a fair way from home and back, door to door in an hour. Isn’t it travelling out of the local area before you start your exercise that’s not allowed?

Considering he probably has a posh bike, Stratford and back in an hour is doable.

I would think it would depend on where you lived and what you wanted to do.

If you live in a very remote place where your nearest neighbour is 4 miles away and the nearest supermarket 20 and hospital 40 miles away, the definition of local is different from where I am where you can walk for miles on footpaths around the village, have a choice of three shopping towns, all 4 - 5 miles away, but need to go 15 miles to the hospital. In a city where the nearest green space is a mile away, the supermarket down the road and hospital 2 miles away, the definition is different again.

On a bike I would consider 7 miles local, providing the cyclist cycled there and back.

Is it local if the 7 miles takes you "out of area"

I don't think he has done anything wrong in this instance - seems he's cycled from home and back. I see quite a few serious cyclists whizzing past my house in all their special gear and imagine they easily cover 7 miles. I don't see a problem with it to be honest as long as they started their bike journey from their residence, and returned within the hour allowed (give or take 5 minutes ?)

Whether or not it's within the definition of 'local' (who knows?) it's certainly not leading by example, is it?

I'm a couple of hundred yards to a different local authority area. Surely that is still local to me even though a different area?
If I walk to the nearest woodland, it is impossible to tell once you are there which borough you are in. They're not going to ban people walking there because of this surely.

This proves that there needs to be a legal definition of what distance is allowed.

Within a five-minute bike ride of Downing Street there are many open green spaces e.g. Hyde Park, Green Park, St James Park.

Now anyone caught within 7 miles of home will rightly argue the toss.