Coronavirus: Police fine three Londoners over 250-mile camping trip to Wales during lockdown

They were sent back home shortly after arriving, according to Cardigan Neighbourhood Police Team

Police in Wales have fined a group of Londoners who were caught camping around 250 miles from the capital during the lockdown.

The three men were told to go home after officers found them on the Welsh coast ignoring the restrictions on movement during the coronavirus outbreak.

Local police said a group of people from the London area had “set up camp” at Mwnt in west Wales on Thursday.

“They had travelled a considerable distance only to be fined and sent straight back home,” Cardigan Neighbourhood Police Team said.

“A time of national crisis is NOT the time for a holiday,” they said.

People have been ordered to stay at home unless it is essential – for example, to get food or go to work – as the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic, while gatherings of more than two people are also banned.

Adults caught breaking these rules risk a fine of £60, which reduces to £30 if paid within two weeks.

For those have been fined for flouting the restrictions before, their fine will be doubled to a maximum of £960.

Since the lockdown began, police have been enforcing the rules by breaking up parties – including one “massive” karaoke party in Derbyshire – and checking people’s reasons for movement.

One man from Nottingham was recently fined after telling officers who stopped him he had driven to London to buy cheaper bread.

The lockdown – which has been extended until at least early May ​– is aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus, which has infected more than 114,000 people in the UK to date.

Around 15,400 hospitalised Covid-19 patients have died in the country as of Friday afternoon, according to the latest health ministry figures.