Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

A French town has banned its residents from going to the bakery to buy single fresh baguettes amid the Coronavirus lockdown.

The Mayor of Sanary-sur-Mer in the south-eastern French department of the Var decided to take exceptional measures during the coronavirus lockdown to force the town’s inhabitants to limit their movements.

According to local media, people in the commune who leave the house to make a single purchase will now be fined.

Ferdinand Bernhard, the Mayor of Sanary, explains: “Individual journeys must be strictly limited and purchases must be grouped together.

“Therefore, no single purchases such as bread or newspapers”.

Reports say that those who do not respect the measure will be fined 135 EUR (122 GBP).

According to reports, the measure is difficult to apply, especially for the most isolated residents who do not have a freezer to store food.

According to the mayor, too much is at stake. He says: “When you go out seven times to buy your bread, you multiply the risk of contamination by seven for the baker, for yourself and for those around you.”

The town’s shopkeepers, for their part, have decided to adapt to this measure. According to a bakery employee interviewed by local media, customers are rather respectful and generally buy between two and four baguettes at a time.

Some netizens were quick to criticise the mayor’s initiative, with one writing: “It’s sad. I think I’m going to stop going to my baker’s and go to the supermarkets”.

Whereas other Internet users saw the case as a question of “intelligent solidarity”.

Despite the criticism, the mayor does not intend to go back on his decision and says he is ready to go to court in the event of a dispute.

Bernhard also said that the money from the fines would be paid back to the carers who work in the area’s hospitals, the daily explains.

Reports state that 80 reports have been drawn up in the town since the measure was introduced but no residents have yet been fined for the purchase of a single baguette.

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