Covid: Helicopter flew from Salford to Preston for sandwich

A helicopter pilot's 80-mile round trip to pick up a beef sandwich from a farm shop was a "flagrant abuse" of lockdown rules, a councillor has said.

A video posted online on Tuesday showed the man landing for his "roast beef in gravy barm with caramelised onion" at Chipping Farm Shop near Preston.

A flight radar website tracked the helicopter to the shop from City Airport in Salford.

Ribble Valley council is investigating a possible Covid rule breach.

The pilot and farm shop have been contacted for comment.

A video posted by the shop on Instagram showed the helicopter landing nearby and a member of staff delivering the sandwich to the pilot.

The post included a comment from the shop about what happens "when your customers are literally flying in for your roast beef in caramelised onion gravy barms".

The shop has since deleted its account on Facebook, which had also posted videos of the helicopter's arrival.

A local resident, who has asked not to be named, said he tracked the helicopter online and had seen it travel from Salford to the shop, which was not connected to a farm, and back again.

He told the BBC the shop served "takeaway drinks and snacks to the many cyclists who come here [and] earlier this week there were 20 plus of them and a helicopter for the second day running".

Simon Hore, who represents the Chipping ward on Ribble Valley Borough Council, said the helicopter trip "does seem to be a flagrant abuse of the restrictions on travel under the current lockdown rules".

"All premises need to ensure that they are observing rules," the Conservative councillor said.

Greater Manchester Police said it was looking into what had happened, while Lancashire Police said any complaint it received about the trip would be passed to the neighbouring force.

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