Councils beg staycationers heading to the coast to soak up today’s 95F sun elsewhere

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Crowds of sun-seekers made an early trip to the coast this morning, with some even spending the night in tents, in anticipation of another sizzling day on Britain’s beaches – despite councils begging tourists to steer clear following yesterday’s ‘bedlam’.

Record numbers packed the seafront on Friday, despite Government warnings, and with little signs of social distancing, on what was the UK’s hottest August day since 2003.  

There were similar scenes again today as staycationers in Bournemouth were seen emerging from tents they’d set up overnight to try and secure the best spots, while Sussex Police turned away cars from a full Camber Sands beach as early as 10am.

In North Wales, described as being a scene of ‘bedlam’ yesterday, a councillor’s plea for visitors to avoid towns appeared to be ignored as the local police force reported a ‘considerable build up’ of traffic in Abersoch as drivers made their way to the beach. 

Similarly, drivers reported 40-minute queues for car parks in Sandbanks, which have also filled up throughout the morning, as the mercury rose to 95F and the RAC prepared itself for the busiest weekend of the year.

Thanet District Council in Kent warned that high tides at its beaches in Broadstairs and Margate make social distancing ‘difficult’, and asked visitors to ‘consider all the places you could visit’ along its 19 miles of coastline, ‘or come back when it’s quieter’. 

Much like yesterday, crowds appeared unbothered by fears of coronavirus as groups mixed without masks – despite rising cases in the UK driving fears of a second wave. 

The chaos comes amid a plea for ‘bold’ young people to continue following social distancing rules as fears grow that they are catching the virus without knowing and passing it on to other members of their household.  

Meanwhile, the Local Government Association is calling for councils to be given more powers to shut down rule-breaking pubs nationwide, with revellers expected to pack into venues up and down the country once again later today. 

In other coronavirus news today: 

• Hundreds of NHS nurses and healthcare staff march through London in protest at being excluded in pay rise
• UK Border Force has issued just NINE fines to people who breached quarantine rules after returning from abroad 
• Lockdown ‘killed two people for every three that died of coronavirus’ as hospitals shut down to deal with COVID
• ‘Bold’ youngsters are warned to stick to social distancing rules and ‘don’t kill granny’ – amid calls for rule-breaking pubs to be closed nationwide 
• Britons could enjoy a quarantine-free trip to Portugal by end of summer as UK ministers see ‘progress’ in its Covid cases dropping 

Dylan Bullard, a councillor from Pwllheli, North Wales, told the Telegraph the town was a scene of ‘bedlam’ yesterday.

He added: ‘If you’re thinking of coming into town, please consider leaving it to later. The car parks are full and cars are parked illegally. Social distancing is impossible at the moment, and people are queuing to get into shops.’ 

Yesterday saw 19 of 24 beaches along a stretch of the Dorset coast full up by midday, at which time there had already been 70 coastguard callouts across the UK, while Kent’s popular beaches were also at capacity by mid-afternoon.  

A council-run app in Dorset showed how beaches including Sandbanks were packed by 10.30am and listed areas under ‘avoid, social distancing not possible’. 

Angry locals in Bournemouth also hit out at tourists ‘heading here with cars full of rubbish to dump on our beaches’ and slammed ‘careless idiots’ putting pressure on the emergency services, while in Northumberland, there were even reports of vehicles blocking emergency access to beaches. 

As temperatures cooled slightly into the evening, revellers crowded into bars and poured out into the streets, with many still foregoing face coverings and ignoring social distancing measures into the early hours. 

It came after Preston’s director of public health warned mixing in pubs was to blame for the area being put back into lockdown, with almost half of the area’s new cases reported were among people aged 30 and younger.

The city council’s chief executive Adrian Phillips pleaded with young people to continue following the guidance and not risk infecting others.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I know our director of public health has said ‘don’t kill granny’ to young people to try and focus the message.

‘Young people are inevitably among the brave and the bold, they want to be adventurous and out and about but we know that they have the virus, are more likely to at the moment, they often have less symptoms but they do take it back to their household and the community spread we are seeing we believe in many cases are young people taking it home and catching the virus.

‘We’re going to have to repeat it and whether Radio 4 is the correct channel for that I’m not quite sure but we’re using multiple channels and we’re working with community groups who are doing peer to peer comms around.

‘It’s just trying so many different ways to get the message to all communities, to all areas of our city that the virus is still something to be really wary of.’

Mr Phillips also backed the LGA’s call for councils to have greater powers to close pubs to slow the spread of the pandemic.

‘You need responsive powers,’ he said. ‘It is useful to have something that can move quickly and we can make it entirely clear to the licensee or the operator what the consequences are.’

Licensing laws currently do not allow councils to take action on public health grounds, such as where Covid-19 guidelines are not being followed, instead relying on general health and safety legislation, which is less specific and makes it harder to intervene.

The LGA, which represents councils in England and Wales, wants to see the introduction of a temporary public health or Covid-19 objective, allowing town halls to take action where premises are not protecting the public during the pandemic – such as collecting people’s contact details or maintaining social distancing.

Current government guidance says pubs are only asked to voluntarily roll out such rules, but the LGA insists it should be made mandatory and legally enforceable.  

It says most are working hard to comply with the guidance but councils have concerns that some pubs are not collecting contact details of customers so they can be reached in the event of a local outbreak.

Britain yesterday recorded another 871 Covid-19 cases as official data shows the number of people getting diagnosed with the life-threatening disease each day has dropped for the first time in a fortnight.

Department of Health statistics reveal 834 new infections are being registered each day — down slightly from the rolling seven-day average of 835 yesterday. But the number of patients testing positive daily is still much higher than the four-month low figure of 546 on July 8.

Cases have steadily risen since over the past month, fuelling fears of a second wave. But separate figures released yesterday suggested the number of people getting infected with coronavirus in England may have actually dropped 12 per cent in a week. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which tracks the size of the outbreak through swab tests of thousands of people, now believes there are 3,700 people in England catching Covid-19 each day. Its estimate of 4,200 daily cases last week prompted Boris Johnson to declare he was ‘squeezing the brake pedal’ on easing the coronavirus lockdown. 

Government scientific advisers yesterday warned the coronavirus reproduction rate could now be as high as one right across the UK. SAGE estimates the R value – the average number of people each Covid-19 patient infects – is now between 0.8 and 1.0, up from last week’s prediction that it was hovering around 0.8 and 0.9. 

Experts say the R needs to stay below one or Governments risk losing control of the epidemic and the virus could spiral back out of control.

Travel chaos is expected this weekend as The AA said it anticipates up to 10 per cent more journeys being made.

It warned drivers to expect queues building near coastal locations, particularly in popular seaside destinations in south-west England, Blackpool, the Welsh coast and Norfolk.

Ben Sheridan, from The AA, said: ‘Motorways, coastal routes and roads to ferry crossings are likely to be busy.

‘Many drivers will be hitting the road early to beat the heat, while others will stay home to stay cool.’

RAC Breakdown said it is expecting this weekend to be the busiest of the year for the company, as traffic jams and long delays look ‘inevitable’.

Drivers are being urged to check the oil and coolant levels in their vehicles to avoid breakdowns in the sweltering heat, as well as making sure tyres are pumped up to the correct pressures and have good tread.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘It’s also important to have plenty of water and food in case drivers find themselves stuck for long periods.

‘We’d also remind people never to leave young children or animals in parked cars in high temperatures.’

Delays and cancellations are likely for rail passengers, as high temperatures can damage overhead wires and lead to speed restrictions due to fears of tracks buckling. 

HM Coastguard warned people to stay safe on the beach after rescue teams responded to 70 callouts across the UK by midday today – ‘above average for this time of year’, one week after its busiest day for more than four years.  

The very hot conditions, which have been caused by air warming up over France before being drawn north, have led to health warnings. 

Britain has never recorded two days with temperatures over 99F (37C) in the same year since records began.

Parts of the South of England are even expected to be hotter than the Caribbean, with highs of 91F (33C) in Jamaica and 84F (29C) Barbados.

The Met Office has also issued a level-three heat health alert which warns Britons to look out for the elderly, vulnerable and young children.

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