Increased visibility policing expected in North Wales as new travel restrictions come in

Police in North Wales are set to mount increased visibility patrols after a ban on travelling into the country from UK coronavirus hotspots came into force.

The measures were introduced yesterday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not respond to the First Minister Mark Drakeford’s requests to make advisory travel guidance in English hotspots mandatory.

Under the new regulations people living in England’s Tier Two – ‘high’ alert level areas which include Chester and Cheshire West and Tier Three – ‘very’ high level – which includes the Liverpool City Region – will be banned from travelling into Wales.

People living in the central belt of Scotland and this living in Northern Ireland will also be banned.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison, North Wales Police said: “As we move into a critical stage of the virus progression, policing across Wales will continue to support the Welsh Government to help limit the spread of the virus.

“We absolutely recognise the great strain on people and the sacrifices that we are all making to get through this difficult time.

“Throughout the pandemic we’ve worked closely with our partners to ensure that measures are in place to help communities and prevent the spread of COVID-19. This will continue as we respond to the current situation.

“You will see increased visibility across our force areas where we will be trying to help our communities do the right thing and protect themselves and others.

“Our focus continues to be to reassure, inform and engage with people – explaining the regulations and encouraging compliance.

“We all have a personal responsibility to comply to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our communities from this virus.

“However we are now at a time where we will robustly enforce the regulations where there are blatant breaches, we will not allow the selfish minority to risk the health of the vast majority who have sacrificed so much over the last few months.

“We intend to focus our activity on areas and behaviours that pose the greatest risk to our communities and we will be proactive in targeting those that are not sticking to the gathering rules, whether that be indoors or outdoors.

“People should not be travelling between the areas facing local restrictions without defined reasonable excuses. This will include those that travel from other parts of the UK with high transmission rates.

“If you live in Wales in a non-restricted area you must not leave Wales to travel to other areas of the UK with high transmission rates – again without a reasonable excuse.

“All the actions we take and the effort we put in will be focussed towards limiting the spread of the virus, helping us all protect our loved ones, our communities and our vital health service.

“The demand on North Wales Police has returned to pre-Covid level. And as a result, it is essential that people comply with the restrictions to reduce the number of breaches which officers have to respond to.

“We need people to recognise that wilfully flouting the guidance places unnecessary strain on already stretched resources.

“The weeks and months ahead will be difficult but we all need to work together to get the best result we can for our families.

“We all have a shared responsibility to protect the NHS, please use your common sense and help us together to protect our communities and save lives.”