SCOTS who ignore a legal travel ban coming into force on Friday could face a £60 fine as ministers published excuses for being allowed to move between different council areas and to leave the country.

Conservatives have raised “serious legal questions” over the travel ban – warning that the Scottish Government could potentially be over-reaching its remit as a devolved administration by putting restrictions on whether people are allowed to leave the country.

The ban, which comes into force from 6pm on Friday, includes guidance from the Scottish Government which warns that those living in a council area in level 3 or level 4 “are now required to stay in that area unless they have a reasonable excuse to travel”, pointing to work, education or welfare reasons.

READ MORE: Explained: The travel restrictions in Scotland that come into force today

Those who face enforcement action by the police could be hit with a £30 penalty notice – rising to £60 if it is not paid within 28 days.

The guidance adds that “going on holiday, including abroad, is not a reasonable excuse” to leave the council area.

Scots living in tier 3 or tier 4 can leave their area for exercise as long as they do not travel more than five miles and exemptions have also been set out to allow people to travel into other areas for work or for essential shopping.

People are allowed to leave their level 3 or level 4 area to buy food or medical goods as well as “supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household” - as well as to carry out “work or provide voluntary or charitable services, where it is not possible for the person to do so from home".

An exemption is also allowed for childcare, education or training, as well as for “medical assistance” such as a dental appointment.

An example of a “reasonable excuse” also includes prison visits, to donate blood and to “access waste disposal or recycling” services and to “feed or care for an animal”.

The list also includes funerals and weddings and “where the person is a professional sportsperson or the coach of a professional sportsperson”.

Almost identical exemptions are given for leaving Scotland.

The First Minister said that the examples illustrate “non-exhaustively" what a reasonable excuse might be.

But the part dealing with rules for not being allowed to leave Scotland faces criticism from Conservative politicians.

Scottish Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins said: “There are serious legal questions to be asked about the draft regulations published by the Scottish Government, which include rules about who may “enter or remain in” Scotland. These rules appear to affect British and Irish citizens across the UK and Ireland.

“Is this within Holyrood’s competence? For one thing, freedom of movement would appear to be expressly reserved to the UK Parliament under the Scotland Act. For another, it’s not clear that the Scottish Parliament can make rules contrary to the Common Travel Area, as agreed to by the UK and Ireland.

“It’s not at all clear if the draft regulations published today are within the remit of the Scottish Parliament. There are, at least, grave doubts about the legal competence to act in the way Scottish Ministers propose.”

Earlier, Scottish Labour leader Richard branded the travel ban a “Red herring”, instead calling on Nicola Sturgeon to focus on tackling the pandemic.

Mr Leonard warned “the best-case scenario is that the travel ban will confuse” the public, adding that “the worst-case scenario is that it will criminalise them”.

He added:” The travel ban is a red herring.

"Instead, the First Minister must take action on some of the things that members of the Scottish Parliament and the people have been calling for."

Ms Sturgeon warned that the travel restrictions were needed as “a significant proportion of the population will go into the highest level of restrictions”.

She added: “I am making no criticisms, but, unlike the situation in England and the situation in Wales a few weeks ago, so far, we are avoiding a national one-size-fits-all level of restrictions, because we do not think that it is right for areas with low rates of the virus to have the same restrictions as areas with higher rates of it if we can avoid it.

“However, in order to maintain that proportionate, targeted approach, we must avoid taking the virus from higher-prevalence areas to lower-prevalence areas and having people from lower-prevalence areas going to higher-prevalence areas and taking the virus back, so that prevalence in those areas goes up.”

The First Minister pointed to the Labour First Minister of Wales introducing similar travel restrictions.

She added: “He was right, because he is determined to keep his country safe. I am as determined as he is to keep my country as safe as I possibly can.”