Hundreds of holiday lets and second home owners who have arrived in Cornwall ahead of the Easter weekend have been reported to the council.
Locals have highlighted some 650 cases of people ignoring the government’s lockdown orders in the past five days alone, according to The Times.
Since the nationwide measures to limit the spread of coronavirus were announced last month, the authorities have been stepping up efforts to deter day-trippers.
A sign in Constantine Bay village on the north coast of Cornwall, pictured, warns people to follow the lockdown guidelines
This includes police stopping cars and caravans on key routes into the area, such as the M5, as well as at service stations and beauty spot car parks.
Visitors spotted on coastal paths have also been quizzed by officers.
Rob Nolan, Cornwall council’s cabinet member for environment and public protection, told the newspaper some holiday accommodation owners were still trading but tourists using them have been told to return home.
St Ives in Cornwall, a popular tourist destination, has been deserted during the lockdown, pictured, but locals fear an influx of visitors ahead of the Easter weekend
Furious residents have slammed Gordon Ramsay, pictured, for moving to his £4.4million mansion in Cornwall amid the coronavirus outbreak
‘The police are relying on unnecessary travel to stop the second home owners. They are going to ramp it up at the weekend,’ he said.
‘Locals are very anxious about people moving in next door to them.’
Most of the reports – made since the council asked for reports of lockdown rebels last Friday – have been about Airbnb rentals.
TV chef Gordon Ramsay is among those to have travelled to Cornwall in recent days, with nearby villagers furious with the 53-year-old for moving his family to their £4.4 million mansion in order to isolate amid the ongoing pandemic.
Locals are worried Gordon may have brought the virus with him from London and want him ‘the hell out of Cornwall’ and have even threatened to expose his address if he doesn’t leave.
However, a friend told MailOnline yesterday: ‘The family see Cornwall as their family home when the kids are back from uni and Gordon back from filming around the world it’s where they spend all their family time together.
‘They’ve been spending time there for 10 years and Jack actually lives in the house there full time too. Most of their neighbours are so welcoming and they love being part of the community.
‘They’ve been following the government advice along with the rest of the country since they arrived on March 20 and the campaign against them is hurtful and unnecessary at a time when we should all be coming together and supporting each other.’
Other celebrities to have caused outrage by using the lockdown as an opportunity to move to the countryside include David and Victoria Beckham.
Cleaners working in holiday homes have even been asked to prepare properties for their owners’ arrival, according to the local MP.
Ian Liddell-Grainger, who represents Bridgwater and West Somerset, said he feared local health services would not be able to cope with an outbreak.
There have even been reports of people moving into second homes, then driving back to London because they forgot their bread-maker, before returning again, The Times said.
Compared to the rest of the country, Cornwall has a relatively small number of cases of coronavirus infection, and even fewer deaths.
But in a bid to deter tourists, one shop owner has even set up a League of Gentleman-inspired policy, where customers must prove they are local in order to buy goods.
In the popular BBC sketch comedy, Edward and Tubbs famously ask visitors to their shop if they live in the area, and dismiss those who aren’t by saying: ‘This is a local shop, for local people; there’s nothing for you here’
Frances Rumsey, 62, who lives in the small town of Tintagel, where the policy has been employed, said: ‘It is normally swarming with camper vans at this time of year and what the shop is saying is that they won’t serve you if you aren’t local.
‘It’s good for the community for health reasons but not for the economy, people have long memories, don’t they?
‘There’s very few cases in Cornwall, everyone is up in arms about what is going to happen if everyone comes here for Easter.’
Airbnb said it had taken away instant bookings and blocked spare rooms being advertised in the UK throughout the lockdown, as part of measures to ‘help everyone follow government guidance and keep people safe’.
Shop owner launches ‘League Of Gentlemen’ policy to only serve locals during lockdown
A shop owner has revealed her store has launched a ‘League Of Gentlemen’ policy to only serve locals during lockdown – and not tourists.
Julie Harrison runs a Spar store in a Cornish town that is often inundated with holidaymakers, and she became so irate with people flouting the guidelines to avoid unnecessary travel, she has now introduced her own ‘locals only’ rule.
The policy is reminiscent of that employed by Edward and Tubbs in the popular BBC sketch comedy.
Edward and Tubbs, pictured, from BBC sketch comedy League of Gentlemen famously ask visitors to their shop if they live in the area, and dismiss those who aren’t by saying: ‘This is a local shop, for local people; there’s nothing for you here’
Creating one of the show’s most famous catchphrases, the couple ask visitors to the store if they live in the area, and dismiss those who aren’t by saying: ‘This is a local shop, for local people; there’s nothing for you here.’
For Julie, the final straw was when one man came in looking to buy postcards and bragged about driving down from Kent without being stopped.
She responded by putting up a sign in the window of her shop in Tintagel, Cornwall, saying that people would not be served unless they could prove they were from the area.
‘We’re still full of holidaymakers despite the lock-down,’ she said.
‘You’d like to think they wouldn’t come but still they’re here.
‘A man told me on Saturday that he had got here from Kent and hadn’t been stopped, it’s like he was proud.
‘He said he had spent the day on the beach with his family and came in looking for postcards – that’s not exactly an essential purchase.’