Warning issued about Bank Holiday visits to beauty spots

Tourism bodies and residents of coastal towns are fearing an influx of frustrated families seizing the chance to travel after weeks of being stuck indoors.

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Visit Peak District & Derbyshire tourist board and Dorset Council are telling people to ‘think’ before travelling, to act responsibly and protect the local community.

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The Norfolk Coast Partnership has sent out a plea to the public to stay away from its coastline for the moment so the area is not ‘overwhelmed’.

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Cumbria's local resilience forum has sent a thank you message to holidaymakers who postponed their trips to the area after visitor numbers last weekend were ‘lower than anticipated’.

It said: “The message remains that the county is not quite ready for visitors to return in their usual numbers.”

Cumbria's public health director Colin Cox said: “I continue to urge people to keep their Lake District plans on hold as we grapple with the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in the county.

“I understand that people may feel their individual visit won't cause a problem, but when thousands of people have the same idea then that has the potential to create genuine issues.”

After a spell of sunny weather across much of the UK, the weather is expected to be unsettled and windy in the North with showers or longer spells of rain this weekend, according to the Met Office.

It says there will be scattered showers on Saturday in the South but it will become dry, settled and increasingly warm.

Jo Dilley, managing director at Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, said: "We know it's tempting to visit the places we've all missed so much, but until we can give you the warm welcome we all want, we ask visitors to think carefully before travelling to the area and to stay local if possible this Bank Holiday weekend.

"Following the renewed Government guidelines, we've already had reports of large crowds at tourist hotspots where it was almost impossible to stay two metres apart, putting the safety of our local communities at risk."