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People are being fined for leaving the house to buy wine in Edinburgh and the Lothians, according to reports on social media.

Yesterday, one West Lothian resident tweeted: "Two people I know in West Lothian: a nurse in uniform leaving a patient's house and someone leaving a shop with just a bottle of wine was fined £30."

A reader also contacted Edinburgh Live to say she had been fined £30 for leaving the house to buy wine and snacks.

She said: "I was walking through Holyrood Park on Sunday afternoon (5 April) on my way back from Morrisons. Two officers asked to look inside my bag, and then fined me for only having crisps, other snacks and a bottle of wine."

Current lockdown rules brought in on 23 March state that people should only be leaving their houses for "very limited purposes" - one of those is to buy "basic necessities".

This has caused confusion amongst many shoppers, as there is no list of what's considered to be a "basic necessity".

One police force elsewhere in the UK said it had taken action against two people who had met at a house party and were "going to the shops for non-essential items". Another police force tweeted that they were disappointed to see people out buying compost and other garden items that they claimed were also non-essential.

However, the fines that have been issued may also reflect the 'attitude' of the people who had been challenged, rather than the act of buying wine itself.

The woman who alleges she was fined and then contacted Edinburgh Live admitted she had refused to comply with the officers' request to return home straight away.

A 41-year-old woman from York was also fined £660 and arrested by British Transport Police for 'loitering' at Newcastle Central station on 1 April. She had reportedly refused to tell police why she was travelling.

Elsewhere in the UK, other people have taken to social media to complain about what they claim is a "heavy-handed" enforcement of the lockdown rules.

One London resident tweeted: "Police have just fined me for taking the dog a walk at this time of night." Walking dogs is allowable exercise as long as you are from a symptom-free household and stay within walking distance of your home.

(Image: https://twitter.com/lpoleschtschuk/status/1244969204761141248)

In the North of England, one man complained to Derbyshire Police that: "My wife was stopped as she got in her car after walking the dog on the way to do the weekly shop for us, her 74 year old mother and a vulnerable neighbour. Officers not interested in reasons, they were rude, bullying gave a £60 fine with glee."

And in Scotland, another woman took to Twitter to complain to Police Scotland that her friend was "given a fine for buying a bottle of prosecco".

She added: "Your officers went through her bag and fined her because that’s all she bought. May I remind you that alcohol is permitted to be bought and that your fascism is not on!"

Edinburgh Live has reached out to Police Scotland for comment.