Northumberland National Park issues 'stay away' message for bank holiday weekend

Northumberland National Park Authority is emphasising that, despite speculation, government guidance on travel, gathering and social distancing has not yet changed.

Therefore people should not be travelling to Northumberland National Park until guidance on staying home has been changed.

A spokesperson for the National Park Authority said: “We ask people not to speculate about any future announcement from government regarding a change to lockdown restrictions.

“The National Park would like to remind the public that the current advice is to Stay at Home, Protect the NHS and Save Lives and not to travel unnecessarily, this includes a drive to areas within Northumberland National Park.

“The National Park requests that people do not drive to visit over the bank holiday weekend. All our visitor centres, public toilets and car parks remain closed and are being patrolled by rangers and the police.”

It also has concerns that visitors could increase the risk of wildfires. During prolonged periods of dry weather, areas of the park can be susceptible. Unfortunately, it has already experienced a significant fire in recent weeks in the Simonside Hills above Rothbury.

Northumberland National Park Authority will continue to monitor the situation and follow advice and guidance from the Government as it comes.

It has thanked people for staying away at this time and looks forward to welcoming visitors back when it is safe to do so.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you