Neighbour breaking lockdown

I would like to add to my response that my stepson is a doctor working in ICU, my best friend a nurse, who herself is currently recoving from the virus, but I will continue to look after my grandchildren so that their parents can do their front line jobs. I wouldn't report on neighbours as can you guarantee you know 100% of the circumstances

I've mentioned before, my son is a police call handler. They are inundated with calls about neighbours. It's making his job very difficult. Dont forget real crime is still happening, suicides, domestic abuse. Either speak to your neighbour or ignore it.

People say it doesn't affect you or anyone else but it does. The longer these people flout the rules, the longer we'll all be in lockdown.

If you can report anonymously then I would do so. The NHS don't need people to behave like this. We have all been specifically asked NOT to.

Bluenose10 - What your neighbour is doing is wrong on every single level, and for the following reasons, I would report her:
1. She is being anti-social in ignoring the public health guidelines and government instruction. Those who behave anti-socially damage society. I don't believe that such people have the right to expect society's protection and take up a hospital bed should it be necessary.
2. If the visiting isolating family has access purely to your neighbour's house then yes, there is little risk to you but if those visitors have access to the garden then there IS a risk to you. The science shows that Covid19 aerosol droplets remain airborne for longer and travel further than originally believed. So an infected person who coughs or sneezes in your neighbour's garden sends a droplet cloud into the air that can travel over your fence and you don't even have to be there at that moment to be infected because the cloud will remain for minutes, so you might walk into it, or the droplets may land on your lawn mower. You are potentially being endangered.
3. You don't know that the visitors are self-isolating families, you don't know they're not visiting other members of their family or friends. If they are so cavalier as to make a visit to socialise and not just drop off provisions at the door, they are likely to be repeating that behaviour elsewhere. Our government failed to undertake contact tracing at the start of this problem and that's why we now have an epidemic in the UK.
Unfortunately, being in isolation and not watching the regular news and trying to keep all the nasty statistics out of mind, causes us all to become complacent, to forget that our hospitals have become warzones, and that our frontline workers are sacrificing their own lives for us. The least we can do is support them by yes - 'snitching' or whatever else people want to call it. We are in an existential crisis here, before long everybody will be asked to wear masks outside in contrast to the early advice. Personally, I would step up to the plate and not be afraid to do what we know instinctively is right here. It wouldn't matter that my neighbour would never be a 'friend' again because I don't want 'friends' who think they are above the agreed rules of society.

I know a few widows who have had friends/ family visit. The visitors have brought their own snacks/dinks and they have sat in the garden at least 2M apart. Not a risk to anyone. None of my business.

Are we becoming like Nazi Germany, snitching on a neighbour who may be sheltering a Jewish person?
I am shielded so can't go anywhere or see anyone for at least twelve weeks but I'm grateful for family who drop my shopping on the doorstep, ring the bell and wave and then go.
I'm equally grateful to the neighbour who collects my newspaper every day and I'm grateful for modern technology that allows me to video call family and friends.
I do notice the teenagers strolling along in groups and neighbours who have visitors but I'm not going to report any if them. I do think they should consider our overstretched NHS though, even if they don't think of the danger to themselves.

I would be cross to see blatant disregard of what we are all doing for all the reasons told time and again. There will always be people who flout the rules and go to the beach and fly tip and worse - but reporting this to the police scares the hell out of me that we could be like those nations with a police state and friends report friends. Stasi type way of life we definitely don’t want do we!??
Stay well everyone and keep up the distancing til it’s second nature xx

I should have added that the visitors live close by and do not use the bathroom when they come. I haven't done this as family do not live close enough and the children of hose that do are too u=young to understand he keeping the distance rule. On my walks I have stopped to speak to friends - again keeping a safe distance away. Maybe your neighbours are doing something similar.

I totally understand your rage at them flouting the rules of which they are all no doubt fully aware of unless they live under a rock in the middle of nowhere!! It’s repeated so much. They simply don’t care. So what’s £60 fine going to do? Yesterday my neighbour (2M+ apart) told me of the funeral yesterday of an old lady who died of CV19. Never went out. But did have the family around for Mother’s Day.
Yet personally I’d Still not report them. At the start of WWII who would have believed that ordinary German citizens could have been convinced to turn on their longtime friends and neighbours but they did. They reported them in their droves as the patriotic thing to do. Look how far patriotism went! We have so many tails of vigilantes reporting others unnecessarily. We don’t know people’s circumstances. If you are that irate then ask your neighbours directly. If she doesn’t care as too selfish then why worry about a friendship?

Maybe a bit dramatic but here goes.It WW2 .Night time.Everyone dutifully closes their blackout curtains as per instructions.After all we're all in it together.Except one house who thinks bah.Im not closing my curtains.Bang.A bomb takes out their house but also the ones nearby and seriously damages others.Ok that's dramatic.And I'm not talking about family dropping off stuff and chatting from the end of the drive.I'm talking about a household I know,fortunately not an immediate neighbour, who since lockdown has had family and friends visit and even help landscape the garden,sharing trays of tea and biscuits.My friend has been put in a terrible position as they are / were friends.Hasn't reported .Hates the idea of being a snitch.Doesn't have to be nosey to know what's going on as out in the garden anyway as lovely weather.But it's made her lockdown more stressful.Like me she's adopting the there's no cure for stupid attitude and telling herself she can only control her own behaviour.But it is very frustrating and that's why we need a rant here more than ever !

Just let others do what they want. Why get involved and make misery for others. Life is bad enough - so just ignore them and if they catch it then that is up to them. Stay away from them and stay safe.

I'd step away from twitching the curtains and leave them to it.

There is a scenario that nobody seems to have considered. My daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter and I have all had COVID-19. We are as certain of this as it is possible to be without antibody testing especially as my son-in-law had it severely albeit not requiring hospital admission. Although I am in a separate household from them and live alone I am continuing to provide childcare as they are WFH. I drive from my house to theirs but do not leave their house during the course of the day. In doing this nobody is being put at any risk and I would suggest that others who appear to be breaking the rules may well have valid reasons that do not compromise the spirit of lockdown.

Bluenose10
I would suggest you do nothing as you don’t know why the neighbour is getting visitors.
I and my husband are in the age and vulnerable category,
and are not allowed out Doctors orders.
Yet we still need to eat and keep us and house clean.
So yes our DD comes to our house with our Shopping,
without her we would be very hungry can’t get a slot for delivery even having stayed up till 12 but all gone.
Our daughter works for NHS so can only shop at the end of her shift when it’s difficult to get what we and she needs so sometimes she has to do more than one shop.
She also has to shop for her own family but isn’t allowed to do ours at the same time.

I have the same problem - perhaps it is more widespread than we think! Next door couple's one year old had birthday party last weekend, attended by 4 other couples with young children, banner in front window, and woman's parents came with pressies; parents visit frequemtly, hear them chatting and playing with child in garden, man goes on frequent bike rides with friend, who comes back for drinks. She is a nurse doing shifts in the week at local hospital! Gastro-intestinal ward, though, not front-line, he tells us!

Another vote for M0nica's view here! Your neighbours are being unwise and you disapprove. Fine, but that is not a reason to involve the Police. They are a threat to each other, but it's hard to see how they are a threat to you or to other people. It is very worrying that people think the Law should back them up when they don't like the behaviour of others. I was in the Police Force in my 20s (many decades ago). We had phone calls all the time about behaviour of neighbours that amounted to no more than disapproval of behaviour e.g. "She's putting her dinner scraps on the compost heap and it will attract rats". "She's keeping the bairn off school again." "He's got 2 women in there with him." Honestly, E. Germany and the Stasi comes to mind!

Washerwoman - what an excellent analogy.

On our street, it's just a matter of time before someone knocks on our door to get us to clap for the NHS, seeing as we're one of the few households who don't do the clap. These are neighbours who are dead smug about clapping for two minutes on Thursdays but have loads of visitors in and out constantly - all family or friends who've had to travel to get here (not trades people). They flout the rules, going out in groups bringing back piles of toilet roll and sanitizers, and don't swerve for the two meters when on the pavement walking.

I can't wait for one of them to ask me why I don't join the Thursday clap, just so that I can tell them what I think of their hypocrisy.

I think it's futile reporting neighbours who break the rules but there are other ways of opening up a dialogue or show disapproval.

Sadly this seems to have turned some people into vigilantes ….keep your distance from others as required. I would think there is no excuse for reporting someone who is simply minding their own business and getting through this as best as they can , which we all are. There is a Primary school next to me still open parents (those having to work) drop off the children in the mornings ...mostly they are in the playground all day ...the teachers and staff are much reduced in numbers an they all seem happy ! the problem is not so much in who gathers in next door's garden as in the fact that no one knows who is a carrier, who has it, who may have recovered from it ...could be you or I ...so judge ye not lest ye be judged…….in other words, as I do, mind your own business ……..

Mind your own business. Keep your own distance. Envy does you no good.

MissAdventure I long ago accepted that some people are arses. Having a moan is important in my acceptance journey.

What a great mantra!! I love it.

Hannah.I think that's an unfortunate analogy comparing to German' s snitching on neighbours sheltering Jews !Effectively condemning them to death or the very least the death camps and immense suffering.
Reporting a big house party in a pandemic is saving lives by limiting the spread.The police had to break up about 600 in Manchester at the start of lockdown.I will reiterate my friend hasn't reported.She isn't going to.But it's not nice she put in a position she feels she should.Fortunately the majority seem to grasp how viruses spread.And don't want to turn vigilante. As I said this thread just gives them an outlet to express frustration.I'm just feeling hers today as she does know the circumstances in this particular instance,and is incredulous at how her supposedly intelligent friend is behaving.Plus as I'm isolating from my DH with a high temperature and aches,fortunately seems a mild dose picked up who knows where as I've only been out to shop once previously and walk the dogs in a quiet area ,this virus seems very real at the moment.

Unless they ate carers there is no valid reason!
This behaviour will increase our lockdown time!
Report them, explain you do not want your name mentioned.
The police, very sadly are having to deal with a great deal of this!

Give the police a break, they are understaffed. Many are unwell or have had the virus and returned to work as soon as possible. Police stations are much emptier than normal yet, as other posters have said, crime goes on, domestic violence has increased, mental health issues occur.
Of course they will deal with huge house parties but don’t bother them with minor issues. They are an emergency service, not nanny to listen to telltales.

Bluenose10; I know the feeling and I have neighbours doing the same thing, in fact they have been flouting rules since the beginning of lockdown. I went to look on the Police website and there was a form to put all the details on and you remain anonymous. Somehow it made me feel like an informant and although they are in the wrong I for the moment am totally ignoring them and keeping as far away as possible from them.
We have now been given another three weeks of lockdown and my neighbours will possibly continue like they have. I think until deaths are closely associated to their own families then they just think that they are untouchable by the virus. Sadly this is the case by many that flout the rules.