Campers given penalty tickets for breaching Covid-19 laws
An off-duty police dog and his handler broke up a group of campers breaching coronavirus regulations in Wales.
Pc Mike Barnsley and police dog Storm spotted the group while out exercising in the Strata Florida area of Ceredigion on Sunday.
The group, travelled from Liverpool and appeared to be camping in order to go off-road biking. They had already been stopped by traffic officers the night before.
Pc Barnsley called for support from response team officers and they discovered a number of people with off-road vehicles, motor homes and a low loader van.
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Dyfed-Powys Police's Sergeant Dave Hawksworth said: “They had clearly not heeded the advice of officers the night before to leave the area and return home and appeared intent on continuing to flout the restrictions.
“As a result, enforcement action was taken, with the whole group being issued with Covid-19 penalty notices before leaving to return to Liverpool.
“I hope this goes to show that we continue to work hard to ensure our rural communities are protected, and that we will take appropriate enforcement action when necessary.”
This was the latest incident involving suspected off-road bikers to be dealt with by the force.
On May 2 officers issued fines to 19 men for attempting to go off-road biking near Newtown.
The force recorded 368 lockdown fixed penalty notices between March 27 and April 14.
Forces have been given powers to hand out a £60 penalty, reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks, for breaches of the restrictions.
