Snowdonia car parks to shut after rise in Covid rule breakers

North Wales Police say beauty spots have been "disappointingly busy" since Christmas

Car parks in Snowdonia's national park are to close following a rise in lockdown rule breakers, park authority bosses have said.

Authority chairman Wyn Ellis Jones, said a "high volume of people" had been seen ignoring Covid rules in the area since Christmas.

It follows reports of abuse towards staff at a Snowdonia car park amid crowds gathering, last weekend.

Wales is at alert level four, meaning non-essential travel is banned.

Snowdonia National Park Authority said there had been an increase "in examples of people disregarding current Welsh Government guidelines that all of Wales is in lockdown".

The decision was made "especially as the new variant of the disease is spreading so quickly", it said.

Last week, North Wales Police said officers had "turned away" people, including some some from Milton Keynes and London, who wanted to walk up Snowdon despite breaching stay-at-home rules.

The car park at Llanuwchllyn has been blocked off by large stones

Mr Ellis Jones said it was their "priority" to protect Snowdonia's communities.

"Because of the high volume of people seen ignoring government regulations in Snowdonia since Christmas, we have decided to take urgent measures to support the Welsh Government's message to avoid any unnecessary travel," he said.

"We hope that people will take personal responsibility for their actions and will voluntarily follow the current government guidelines."

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Nigel Harrison, temporary North Wales Assistant Chief Constable, said police would not "stand by and allow blatant breaches" of the law.

"We all know the law by now and know exactly what is the right thing to do," he said.

"This is not a dress rehearsal, people will live and die on the actions we all choose."

The Welsh Government decided to close beauty spots during the first lockdown after scenes like this at Pen y Gwryd in Snowdonia

Gareth Jones, assistant head of the environment department at Gwynedd council, said they are "very conscious" the number of coronavirus cases could rise sharply in the area.

"It's vital that we follow the current guidelines to avoid unnecessary travel and not to drive to some of Snowdonia's beauty spots for the time being," he said.