Coronavirus: Police 'busy' with visitors to Wales

BBC Pen y FanBBC
A family from Birmingham were spotted coming down closed footpaths on Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons

Police across Wales say they have been "busy" dealing with visitors flouting lockdown laws.

North Wales Police said they had turned around tourists from Manchester, Norwich and London as they tried to visit parts of Snowdonia.

Drivers from Bristol and Wolverhampton were fined for heading to Stackpole, Pembrokeshire, along with a Birmingham family in the Brecon Beacons.

Rules on travel have been relaxed in England - but not in Wales.

The restrictions on all non-essential travel in Wales remain in force, including a ban on driving to areas outside of your home location for exercise.

It means driving into Wales from other parts of the UK for sightseeing is prohibited.

In a social media post, officers in the Conwy Valley wrote: "Another busy set of shifts for Llanrwst officers - a number of vehicles from as far as Manchester, London and Norwich will be summoned to court for breaching Covid-19 legislation."

In another incident, police also discovered a couple who had travelled from Scotland to camp at the Lake Geirionydd beauty spot above the village of Trefriw.

Megan Thorman Lake GeirionyddMegan Thorman
A couple from Scotland were found camping at this Welsh lake beauty spot in the Conwy Valley

In reference to the Birmingham family caught on a closed footpath descending from Pen y Fan to Storey Arms in the Beacons national park, the chief constable of Dyfed Powys Police Mark Collins said it was one of "many examples again of people travelling miles to come to Welsh beauty spots".

"The Dyfed-Powys policing area has the lowest number of cases of Covid-19 in Wales and we need to protect that position. Please be responsible," he added.

In Ceredigion, police stopped a car which was doing a 400-mile round trip from London so the motorist could visit their girlfriend.

The driver was sent back to London and reported for breaching the lockdown restrictions.

In Carmarthenshire, police stopped a camper van travelling from the Kent area to Llanybydder. The driver was issued with a fine and advised to return to Kent.