Police forces in Wales fear that some people are getting ‘lockdown fatigue’ and are pleading with everyone to stick to the guidelines and stay at home unless their journey is deemed as essential.

With police predicting that there will be an ‘influx of people’ trying to come into Pembrokeshire for the Bank Holiday weekend coming up, there will be an increase in resourcing, force-wide.

Police stop checks continue to be conducted along county roads to ensure people are travelling in accordance with the lockdown rules.

However that has not stopped some from trying to visit Pembrokeshire. On Monday the Pembrokeshire Road Policing Unit team reported that three persons stopped stated they were travelling to Tenby to walk their dogs as they were ‘fed up’ of lockdown. All were issued with fines and turned around.

The individuals had travelled from Carmarthenshire and stated that they were not aware of the Government restrictions or that a lockdown was being enforced.

On Saturday a stop check conducted by police in Pentlepoir on a vehicle, showed that it was registered and insured to the Manchester area.

The occupants stated they had just finished work in Bristol and were going to Tenby to ‘look at the beach’. Both were reported for non essential travel an the vehicle was turned around.

On the same day, one vehicle from the Pontypridd area was stopped on the A477 at Llanteg, with Dyfed-Powys Police officers stating that the occupants said that they were going to Tenby ‘for a spin’ as they were bored in the house. Both were reported for non essential travel, and the vehicle was escorted out of Pembrokeshire.On Wednesday a pair from Cardiff were stopped at Stepaside stating that they had made the journey to head to Tenby to ‘go for a walk’.A police check showed that the passenger was wanted on a prison recall, and he was subsequently arrested.The driver was reported for breaching non-essential travel guidelines and turned around - only for the him to turn up again at police checks in Penblewin - again unable to justify his presence in the area, before being escorted out of the county.“We’ve seen quite an influx of people trying to come into Pembrokeshire over the last few weeks, particularly over the last Easter bank holiday weekend,” said Inspector Andrew Williams of Dyfed Powys Police.

“We predict the same for the next bank holiday weekend which is why we will be increasing resourcing, increasing the patrols force-wide really, from the top of Powys down to Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire itself.

“In Dyfed Powys Police we’ve issued just over 600 fixed penalty notices. That is to do mainly with the geography of our force, with the nice weather and the bank holiday weekends, we did see an influx of people travelling into our force area from London, Essex, Bristol, other parts of Wales.

“We’ve been engaging with those people - the vast majority of people have listened to our advice to go home and listen to the restrictions, but in a lot of cases we have had to use our enforcement powers,” he continued.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s leader Clr. David Simpson has once again urged the public to adhere to government guidelines.

“The message to all residents of Pembrokeshire and further afield is that this is not the time to break the rules of lockdown; it is not the time to start undertaking non-essential travel and is not the time to let our guard down,” he said.

“The virus can still have a major impact on our lives and economy if we do not follow the advice given.

“Please I urge you all to be patient and do not undo all the good work already done. Why risk catching or passing on this virus. It’s not worth it.

“Every day we hear and see stories of loved ones losing their battle with Covid-19 so please do not add to that statistic. Do not be a victim, look after yourselves.

“Stay at home, stay safe and ensure we all work together to save lives,” added Clr.Simpson.

Whilst conducting stop checks during the month of April, Pembrokeshire Road Policing Unit team also reported that they had made 15 arrests for drug driving; four drink-drive arrests; one arrest for possession with intent to supply; whilst one person who had a warrant out for their arrest was also caught during a routine stop-check.

16 uninsured vehicles and eight that were untaxed were also dealt with last month by the unit.