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| - In an icy wind, the Breen family stood in Christmas jumpers in a car park at the border between Scotland and England to exchange gifts and clink champagne glasses. Lindsey Breen, 42, her husband Michael, 47, and their 14-year-old son Sam, who live in the Scottish town of Perth, had planned to celebrate Christmas at home. Meanwhile their eldest son Daniel, 21, and his girlfriend Katy Cuthbertson, 24, had planned to travel from their home in Newcastle in northern England. Then on Saturday evening, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that travel between Scotland and England would not be allowed during the festive season due to the new virus strain spreading rapidly in England. "It was just devastating. I guess we had all these plans and they're just all ruined now," said Lindsey Breen. But she said the family immediately spoke on the phone and planned a way to meet and make "the most of a bad situation". "It was Daniel who came up with the idea to meet at the border so we weren't breaking the law," said Michael Breen. He said they decided "to meet on the border, exchange gifts, clink a glass from two metres apart of course and just celebrate Christmas together here". His side of the family drove 105 miles (170 kilometres) to be there, while his eldest son, a vehicle repair worker, and his girlfriend, who works in vehicle retail, drove 68 miles (110 kilometres). The family synchronised their arrival times and joined each other at the border shortly after 1 pm. The sun shone as Scottish flags flapped behind them and there was a sweeping view of the North Sea. After exchanging gifts, the family clinked glasses with orange juice and wished each other a Merry Christmas. The celebration was strictly socially distanced with no hugs exchanged. "There was a lot of tears shed yesterday but this year you've just got to be creative of how you can see people and make things work for you sometimes," said Cuthbertson, who wore a red sweater decorated with snow men. "You've just got to do something at the drop of a hat and ring and say 'are you available tomorrow? Let's just do it. Let's just meet at the border'. So we just drove up here today." Traffic flowed across the border, despite a warning from the Scottish police that patrols would be stepped up. Scotland's chief constable Iain Livingstone said Sunday that other than for the most essential journeys, people should not be travelling between Scotland and other parts of the UK. He said he had authorised the doubling of police presence in the border areas of Scotland and there would be "highly visible patrols". srg/am/har
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