Covid-19: Travellers report mistaken home quarantine checks

People arriving in the UK from France have said they were wrongly visited at home by Covid officials to see if they were obeying quarantine rules.

David Tongs, staying in Southampton, Hampshire, said he was "devastated" to be threatened with a £500 fine.

Alice Kirk, from Findon near Worthing, West Sussex, said an official warned her she faced 10 days of daily checks.

Since Sunday, arrivals from France have no longer had to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

Mr Tongs said he arrived in the UK on Sunday morning, shortly after the relaxation of restrictions took effect.

He said he walked to his daughter's house in Southampton on Monday to find an official in a security jacket waiting outside.

Mr Tongs said he told the man he had fully complied with the new travel rules.

He said the official replied: "Oh no, I've got you on my list. You shouldn't be out. You'll have the police at your door and they can fine you."

The French resident said on a previous UK visit he was marked down as absent by a quarantine checker when he took two minutes to answer his front door.

Mr Tongs said: "I said to him, 'I am in'. And he said, 'Sorry, that's your problem.' He was just blatantly rude."

Ms Kirk said she was shocked when an official wrongly came to her home on Monday, the day after her arrival from France.

She said: "It makes you lose trust in the process because it's not nice having someone come and tell you should be isolating when you're not.

"He said that he had visited multiple people that day that had had the same issue. Mistakes are clearly happening."

Mr Tongs said he had received an apology from the Department of Health and Social Care after he contacted the BBC.

The ministry has been approached for comment.

UK arrivals from so-called "amber list countries", including France, must be tested for coronavirus before and after travelling, but do not need to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated, according to government rules.

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