Stay away over bank holiday: call to visitors
‘We want to welcome you back but only when it’s safe’
Town leaders and police have sent out pleas to visitors to “stay away from the coast” ahead of the bank holiday, with warm weather forecast.
With warm weather predicted for the coming bank holiday weekend, council bosses and the police have asked people to think before travelling. Following widespread calls for people to wait until the county’s attractions and businesses reopen before visiting, the majority of people avoided the rural and coastal visitor hot spots last weekend.
While there was an increase in vehicles in areas like the national parks and more walkers and cyclists exploring the countryside, the anticipated crowds were much lower than feared, especially on the coast.
Richard Flinton, chairman of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum and North Yorkshire
County Council chief executive, said: “The vast majority of people did the right thing and avoided potentially busy areas. We applaud everyone for that collective effort.
“There were measures in place in some key locations to minimise parking and better facilitate social distancing and these seem to have been largely welcome.
“As we head towards a warm bank holiday weekend – everyone’s buy-in remains critical to reduce transmission of Covid-19 and save lives.
“Everything will still be here in a few weeks’ time and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to our beauty spots and the whole of North Yorkshire when it’s safe to do so and our shops, cafés and restaurants are open again.”
The message was backed by Scarborough Council’s deputy leader Cllr Liz Colling.
“Thank you to all ‘would be’ visitors who stayed close to home and chose not to visit our coastal towns and villages at the weekend. We really appreciate the sensible approach the majority of people have taken,” she said.
“Our toilets and car parks remain closed and, in line with Government guidance, many local businesses are not open yet.
“With the weather expected to warm up again this week, I ask people to continue to play their part in helping to control the spread of coronavirus by only coming back to visit us when we are ready to welcome you properly.”
North Yorkshire Police’s Superintendent Charlotte Bloxham, silver commander for the response to Covid-19, revealed 24 fines were issued by officers over the weekend.
“Despite being called to more than 300 incidents where members of the public reported suspected breaches, on arrival, officers found that on the whole, people were observing the guidelines and regulations.
“There have been pockets where we have had to encourage people to stick to the rules, but we have only used enforcement as a last resort.”