Coronavirus: Court issues thousands in lockdown fines in a day

A court has fined people who breached Covid-19 travel rules thousands of pounds in a single day.

Magistrates in Llanelli heard more than a dozen cases on Tuesday, imposing fines and costs of almost £10,000.

A trip from Burnley in Lancashire to the Pystill Rhaeadr waterfall in Powys on 1 June cost a 37-year-old man £800.

And a 25-year old man from Birmingham was fined £660 and ordered to pay £85 in costs after visiting the beach in Aberystwyth in May.

People across the UK were told to stay at home as schools and businesses closed during the first lockdown announced in March.

And those who broke the unprecedented travel restrictions have been appearing in courts across Wales.

Among those was a man from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, whose "spin" with a friend through mid Wales ended up costing him more than £200 when he was stopped by police in Aberystwyth.

There was also an £811 court bill for a 22-year-old man from St Helens, Greater Manchester, who was stopped on the A495 at Meifod in Powys on 24 May after going off-road motorbiking in mid Wales.

A 29-year-old man who was stopped on the A40 in St Clears, Carmarthenshire, on 1 June after travelling from Ilford in Essex was fined £660.

And a camping trip with friends near the Blue Lagoon at Abereiddy, Pembrokeshire, cost a 22-year-old man from Cardiff £350 in fines and costs.

Meanwhile, a 41-year-old woman from Bow Street, Ceredigion, who attended an illegal gathering in Foel Goch, near Aberystwyth, on the last Saturday in May was fined £660.

In total, the court imposed fines of £8,450 for the Coronavirus regulation breaches, with costs of £1,360.

A number of other cases were adjourned.