Police in Swansea stop vehicles at checkpoint to crackdown on non-essential journeys after two motorists from Tier 3 Bristol were fined for travelling to South Wales over weekend
- Welsh police are pulling over traffic in Swansea to check their travel is essential
- It follows hundreds of people flocking to Wales from England, despite lockdown
- Officers previously parked on the Prince of Wales Bridge connecting the nations
Police in Swansea are stopping anyone travelling for non-essential reasons after two people from Tier 3 Bristol were fined for travelling to South Wales over the weekend.
Wales is living under Alert Level 4 restrictions – the equivalent of Tier 4 in England, meaning travel is only permitted with a reasonable excuse such as caring responsibilities or work.
Travel is only allowed between England and Wales for work or education.
Despite the rules, Dyfed-Powys Police turned away more than 300 vehicles from the busy Pen y Fan, the highest peak in South Wales, last Tuesday, while Gwent Police spent New Year’s Eve monitoring traffic on the Prince of Wales Bridge – which connects the two nations.
Today South Wales Police has patrol cars checking journeys along Mumbles Road in Blackpill – after handing out more than a dozen fines to visitors over the weekend.
South Wales Police patrol cars are out in Swansea to clamp down on people ignoring a ban on all but essential travel. It comes after hundreds of people made the trip to various parts of Wales over the Christmas and New Year holidays
It comes after officers fined travellers from Bristol who had arrived at Three Cliffs Bay in Gower for a holiday.
South Wales Police’s Swansea division tweeted: ‘Please remember Wales is currently a Tier 4 area, Please only travel when necessary.’
Over the weekend officers handed out 14 fines and warnings to people caught travelling without necessity, according to @SWPSwansea.’
Visitors from England have been repeatedly warned against travelling to Wales, which has been under nationwide Level 4 lockdown since 20 December, with restrictions also tightened for Christmas Day.
Police in Swansea handed out more than a dozen fines to visitors, including two from Bristol, who arrived in South Wales over the weekend
Gwent Police set up patrol cars on the Prince of Wales Bridge on New Year’s Eve, as it warned motorists: ‘Do not leave or enter Wales without good reason. Abide with the rules’
Two people from Tier 3 Bristol were fined for travelling into South Wales over the weekend
The rules state that people must not visit other households, or meet other people they do not live with.
Travelling is only allowed for essential purposes, such as for work and for caring responsibilities. International travel is also not allowed.
People are still allowed out of their homes to exercise, for unlimited times and periods each day, and exercise should start and finish at your home.
Hundreds descended on the Brecon Beacons at the start of last week, prompting patrols to step up across the nation.
Inspector Andrew Williams, from Dyfed-Powys Police’s specialist operations (RPU) team, said: ‘Fixed penalty notices have and will be issued to those blatant breaches where engagement fails.
‘But the vast majority of people are listening to advice and when they are turning up and seeing RPU vehicles at the site, they are turning around and going home – which is the objective of our high visibility patrols.’
Official figures show there had been a further 54,990 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, up 80 per cent from last week’s case figure of 30,501, while the number of deaths had increased by 43 per cent from last Sunday to 454
Police have stepped up patrols across Wales to ensure motorists are only travelling for essential reasons, after hundreds of vehicles arrived at Pen Y Fan to see the Brecon Beacons last week
Last month Wales was plunged into Alert Level 4 restrictions which means travelling is only permitted with a reasonable excuse
Elsewhere in Scotland, more than 150 people descended on Cairngorm Mountain on Saturday – despite the snow resort being closed since Christmas Eve.
Locals believe people from across the UK were travelling to the resort, despite mainland Scotland living under lockdown rules.
Local councillor Bill Lobban said: ‘The advice not to travel means just that, it doesn’t mean you should be driving halfway across the country just to visit Glenmore or anywhere else.
‘There are plenty of places you can exercise without getting in your car.’