Dyfed-Powys Police have continued to advise the public not to make journeys to beaches and coastal areas, with the advice that exercise should ‘start and finish from home’.

Pembrokeshire’s Road Policing Unit carrying out stop checks today (Wednesday) reported that one vehicle from Worcester was pulled over at Kilgetty, with the occupants stating that they were ‘going to the beach’.

The vehicle, which contained four adults and a young child, had travelled over 160 miles. The adults were reported for non essential travel, and the vehicle was escorted out of Pembrokeshire.

Another example of a motorist that didn’t take the Government’s advice on non-essential travel were the occupants of a motor home that had rented the vehicle in Berkshire and were stop-checked by police in the Stackpole area on Tuesday afternoon, some 200 miles away from their home. Again the occupants were reported accordingly and escorted from the area.

With Pembrokeshire County Council revealing last week that RNLI lifeguards will not be deployed at the county’s beaches for some time to come, and coast paths and coastal car parks remaining closed to members of the public as part of the lockdown restrictions, the Government and police advice remains that exercise should start and finish from home.

“In Wales, driving to the coast to exercise is not considered a reasonable excuse to leave home. To reduce the risk of spread of coronavirus exercise must be done within an area local to home,” said a police spokesperson.

“As one of the purposes of the restrictions is to reduce pressure on the Welsh NHS, the Welsh Government advises that people should not undertake forms of exercise that involve a significant degree of risk.

“Clearly, with no RNLI lifeguards on beaches currently – the degree of risk associated with entering the water is increased greatly.

“Therefore now more than ever, people need to be responsible and stay home, as this will not only protect yourself and your loved ones, but it will also reduce the demands placed on emergency services.”