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Couple who spotted Cummings breaching lockdown filed an official complain to police watchdog

A COUPLE who claim to have seen Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings on a second lockdown trip to Durham have filed an official complaint with the police watchdog.

Dave and Clare Edwards revealed yesterday that they informed police in May after seeing PM Boris Johnson’s chief adviser while walking in Houghall Woods near Durham on April 19, the weekend after he had supposedly returned to work in London.

Mr Cummings has denied making a second trip, insisting that photos and data on his phone disprove the allegation.

Durham Constabulary said it would not take “retrospective action” despite finding that the PM’s aide may have made a “minor breach” of lockdown rules by making a trip to the North East with his family earlier in April.

This included a drive to Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday, which he claimed was to assess his eyesight and fitness to travel to London the next day, following his recovery from Covid-19.

However, Mr and Mrs Edwards have since put in a subject access request in order to determine exactly how their complaint was followed up.

A spokeswoman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said: “In accordance with the police complaints procedure, we have forwarded a complaint to Durham Constabulary.

“It will now be a matter for the force to determine the next steps, including whether this complaint merits referral to the IOPC.”

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner called for the PM to set the record straight following the reports. 

She said: “The Dominic Cummings saga has already done incredible damage to public trust, and the public are rightly angry that there is one rule for the Prime Minister’s chief advisor and another for the rest of us.”

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