Posted: Thu 21st May 2020

Updated: Thu 21st May

Police urge people to stay away from North Wales over Bank Holiday weekend

North Wales news and information
This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 21st, 2020

Police are urging people to stay away from North Wales over the Bank Holiday weekend as travel restrictions remain in place.

Officers have thanked people in the region for largely sticking to the COVID-19 regulations and only going out when essential.

But with another Bank Holiday weekend almost here, there are concerns visitors could flock from outside the area to enjoy local tourist hot spots.

The situation in Wales appears to have been made particularly difficult by the differing messages being given out in England, where people have arrived at beaches in their droves during the recent warm spell.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison said: “Thank you for your support over the past eight weeks – the majority of you have been fantastic in staying inside and following the rules.

“But we need to keep going. Everyone must continue to contribute to the national effort to respond to the coronavirus outbreak and I am grateful to the vast majority who have made significant changes to their daily habits and routines. You really are playing your part in helping to save lives.

“Restrictions remain more stringent here in Wales. Our tourist attractions, parts of the national park, pubs, restaurants, cafes, caravan, holiday parks and campsites all remain closed. When exercising you must stay local.

T/ACC Harrison added: “Despite our repeated messages including national media coverage, we’ve continued to see people travelling totally unreasonable distances into north Wales which is extremely disappointing.

“Our focus continues to be to reassure, inform and engage with people so they understand why these restrictions are in place.

“Teams continue to be out and about in our communities and on the road networks, and will be once again this weekend, ensuring the people are complying with the restrictions.”

North Wales Police are also reminding people that it is not legal to drive to second and holiday homes, and neither is driving to the Snowdonia National Park and other beauty spots to walk or exercise.

T/ACC Harrison said: “Please stay in your primary residence. North Wales will still be here once the pandemic is over and we look forward to getting things back to normal and welcoming people back as soon as we can.

“The NHS and other key workers are doing an incredible job in keeping the public safe, but we ask you to consider that increasing the population of our area will place an unreasonable burden on them.

“Don’t be the selfish one that undoes all the good work that has been done over the last nine weeks this is about making sure loved ones are able to get out and enjoy north Wales once again as soon as possible, the police should not be needed to reinforce common sense.

“We thank you for your continued support and understanding in these exceptional times, and we continue to work hard to make north Wales as safe as possible.”

The Welsh Government has confirmed that from tomorrow the maximum penalties for breaching the lockdown will rise.

The existing fines structure, which imposed a £60 fine for a first offence rising to £120 for a second and subsequent offences, will be replaced by a new structure in which the fines double for every offence – rising from £60 to £120 to £1,920 for the sixth offence.

While the move has been welcomed in some quarters, North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones has accused the First Minister of “fudging” the decision by keeping the minimum fine level the same.



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