BBC Radio caller says anyone who is caught sunbathing in public should be shot by the army

A man from Norfolk has told BBC Radio 5 Live that the army should be given permission to shoot anyone that is caught sunbathing in public over the Bank Holiday weekend.

There have been fears that due to the extended Easter break and the warm weather that more people will continue to flout the lockdown regulations and risk spreading the coronavirus.

Police have been given permission to move people along and tell people to keep on moving or go home. However, Keith from Norfolk believes that stronger measures should be taken against sunbathers.

In a call to Jim Davis on Wednesday morning, Keith said:

I want the military to shoot them. Not necessarily to kill them. Shoot them in the foot. Shoot them in the hand.

Teach them a lesson and then people will learn that you will not flout the laws of this country, you will not disrespect the Queen, you will not disrespect health workers and go running around sunbathing and spitting in the streets.

Davis then points out that the NHS is already under enough strain with the coronavirus, that they probably don't need to be dealing with people who have just been shot by the army.

Keith replies:

If they are going about their reasonable exercise, or visiting somebody with health problems or is vulnerable, or going to work, or necessary shopping, we don’t have to worry about them.

But anybody else, and there’s plenty of them, congregating together, taking the mickey, spitting, being outrageous – shoot them. Shoot them.

So, there you go. If you live in Norfolk and plan on doing any sunbathing this weekend you might have Keith to answer to.

The UK has now been under lockdown for two weeks which has limited people to one piece of daily exercise and only necessary trips to shops for either food or medication.

On Thursday, the culture secretary urged people to stay at home despite the Easter weekend:

This is not how I planned to spend my Easter weekend, I'm sure it's not how any of your viewers planned to spend their Easter weekend. We'll have to stay at home.

At the time of writing, the UK has confirmed more than 60,000 cases of coronavirus, which have resulted in 7,097 deaths