You are now entering Derbyshire - please have your passports ready for inspection

But that idea of a border crossing became much more tangible this week, following the Prime Minister’s announcement about local lockdowns and neighbouring areas being placed into different coronavirus containment ‘tiers’.

It has left people asking what it means for those travelling north up the A61 Dronfield bypass and who suddenly find themselves crossing from one state of lockdown into another.

With both Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire now being placed under stricter rules, the same problems also arise travelling out of the county to the south and east.

Never mind the vexed Brexit issue of a hard border for Northern Ireland, what about those crossing the line in and out of Derbyshire?

Will there be checkpoints and police roadblocks?

Will you need to have your passport and travel permits checked?

Will a ‘Jungle’-style migrant camp spring up at Lowedges, like in Calais?

I actually think the principle of tailored local lockdowns is a sound one, if implemented intelligently.

The idea that one size fits all clearly isn’t the case and the decision to reopen all the pubs across the country at the same time in July, regardless of infection rates in different locations, has been cited as one of the reasons we currently have covid hotspots.

But there are potential consequences to having a line, even an invisible one, either side of which you’re allowed to do different things.

On the southern edges of Sheffield, which is in a tier 2 lockdown, you must not socialise with anybody outside of your household or support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place.

But just down the road, Dronfield and Chesterfield are only in tier 1, where anyone is free to meet their mates down the pub for a coffee, pint or G&T – providing last orders are called at 10pm.

Derbyshire could end up a Nevada-style den of sin where out-of-towners head for illicit encounters that are forbidden on their own doorsteps

Viva Chez Vegas..?