ELEVEN people who had travelled hundreds of miles from England to walk in Snowdonia have been reported for breaching coronavirus legislation.

Ahead of the weekend, North Wales police again told people that travelling into Wales for sightseeing or recreational purposes was not classed as essential travel.

However, there were two incidents of people travelling from London and Cumbria to the region.

Yesterday, North Wales Police said that a man from Cumbria became abusive to staff at a hotel when they challenged him.

He was stopped on the A55 by the North Wales and Cheshire Alliance Armed Policing Unit and told to go home.

Police tweeted: "Staff from local hotel challenged a man seen returning to his car after he'd walked up #Snowdon earlier. Travelled from Cumbria. Abusive when challenged thinking regulations did not apply. @CheshNWalesAAP stopped him on A55. Reported for breaching #COVID19 legislation."

In a separate incident, a group of ten people were stopped by police officers. They had travelled from London to go for a walk in Snowdonia.

North Wales Police tweeted: "A group of 10 stopped in 2 vehicles on A5 #Bethesda earlier, having travelled from London with the intent of going for a walk in Snowdonia.

"Told to return home immediately and escorted back to the A55 by @NWPRPU. Reported for breaching #COVID19 legislation."

Motorists have been warned that police are patrolling the roads, and offences such as speeding or driving without tax or insurance will be dealt with.

And, on Friday, North Wales Police and Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board had appealed to people not to travel into North Wales.

The Leader:

Police seized this vehicle in Caernarfon as the driver had no tax or insurance

Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: “Our NHS and other key workers are doing an incredible job in keeping the public safe, but we ask you to consider that increasing the population of our area will place an unreasonable burden on them. We all know what the right thing to do is; trying to circumvent the law for personal benefit is just plain ridiculous.

“Please only travel if your journey is absolutely essential. This means either shopping for food or medicine and for travelling to and from work if you cannot work from home. Our policing style remains unchanged, and we will be operating in a very visible way on our road networks and in towns and villages ensuring that people are complying with the restrictions. Our actions will remain proportionate and fair, we know from working with our communities here that people are supportive of us as your local police service supporting communities.”