Public health boss: Don't visit Worcestershire beauty spots, stay at home

It follows concerns about the numbers visiting beauty spots in the county, including the Clent and Lickey Hills, during good weather last weekend.

Dr Kathryn Cobain, the county's director of Public Health said: “We are all looking forward to having a few more freedoms but we have to stick to the rules for a bit longer.

“After a long winter it is so tempting to get out, enjoy the sunshine and meet others.

"But this is the very moment when we need to have the resolve to keep going and follow the rules. We need to think of others and not put ourselves or anyone around us at risk.

“Only by doing this can we get the number of cases of Covid-19 down.

"Only by keeping the numbers down will we be able to follow the government’s timeline for easing the lockdown.”

The authority has reminded people of lockdown rules, and stressed the "single most important thing we can all do is to stay at home".

If you go out for exercise, it should still be with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, staying two metres apart. Exercise should be limited to once a day, and you should not travel outside your local area.

This means staying local in the village, town, or part of the city where you live.

Councillor Philip Thomas, Bromsgrove District Council’s portfolio-holder for leisure, said: “We have such beautiful surroundings in our district which not only attract local residents but also lots of visitors from outside of the area, creating, as we saw at the weekend, crowds and traffic jams.

"While we are being asked to stay local as part of current lockdown measures, please take this chance to enjoy and discover beauty spots on your doorstep , avoiding the crowds and helping to keep yourself, your family and others safe.

“We all want to see the lockdown measures easing but this will only happen if the number of cases of coronavirus go down.”

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