Park visitors surge despite ‘think carefully’ plea

LONDON: A national park has urged the public not to visit as its car parks filled up on the first weekend since coronavirus lockdown measures were partially eased in England. The Peak District National Park said the Langsett area at the north-eastern edge of the park was “extremely busy” on Saturday morning, making social distancing difficult. Visitors seemingly flocked to the area despite people being asked to “think carefully” before visiting national parks and beaches.

On Twitter, park bosses in the Peak District said: “This area [Langsett] is reported to be extremely busy with car parks currently full and social distancing difficult. Please don’t travel to the area or park outside of designated bays.”

The Yorkshire Dales introduced a traffic light system to let visitors know how busy its car parks are in 10 different locations. By Saturday afternoon, its Malham car park, which has 140 spaces, was marked red to indicate it was full, while other locations were marked amber to show they were filling up fast.

The warning comes after a group of eight people were handed Covid-19 fixed penalty notices at the park on Friday night, after police found them camping by a fire near Surrender Bridge, off the Langthwaite and Feetham road.

North Yorkshire Police said the group had travelled from West Yorkshire and were from six different households. With the Met Office forecasting sunny conditions, members of the public are being urged to continue observing social distancing rules and avoid potentially contributing to crowded public spaces.

Since Wednesday, a slight relaxation of restrictions in England means people are no longer limited to one opportunity to exercise outdoors each day. They can also drive to beaches and countryside beauty spots in England, alone or with members of the same household, and can picnic, sunbathe and relax in public spaces.

But despite the new freedoms, police forces, tourist boards and park authorities across the country urge caution.