Hundreds turned away from Herefordshire's tier 1 pubs

Drinkers in Herefordshire at the weekend were subjected to temperature and postcode checks

Up to 300 people were turned away from pubs in tier 1 Herefordshire on Saturday night for not being from the area.

Licensees turned away people who were trying to drink in the tier 1 pubs, but did not have tier 1 addresses, West Mercia Police said.

One person had driven over 200 miles just to go to the pub, they added.

Herefordshire is one of only a handful of places in England still in tier 1 where venues can host multiple groups.

The other places are the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Peter Amour, 74, of Wye Valley Brewery, which runs The Barrels in Hereford, likened Saturday to an "invasion".

A number of customers were turned away from The Barrells in Hereford

"It was a bit of an invasion because people want to go to the pub, and just be relaxed in a community, but if they're coming from a high tier area we don't want them," he said.

"We need to look after our people."

Chef patron of the Riverside Inn at Aymestrey, Andy Link, said their proximity to the Welsh border was worrying. Wales began a country-wide lockdown on Sunday.

"We've had lots of phone calls from people who don't understand the rules or who seemed quite confused by it, asking to stay in the hotel," he said.

"There are a lot of people trying to get into the area."