People in UK beauty spots ponder impact of easing

Locals living in British beauty hotspots are bracing themselves for possible surges in tourism as UK eases travel and exercise restrictions.

Bourton-on-the-Water attracts hundreds of thousands of local and foreign tourists every year - with May usually peak holiday season.

However, since the March 23 coronavirus lockdown, shops, restaurants and tourist amenities have shut and tourists have largely kept away.

And the villagers want to keep it like that.

But new government regulations, issued on Wednesday, now permit people to drive to destinations away from home.

That means they are likely to come to places like Bourton.

As much as the locals want the tourist business, they are afraid that visitors will spread the virus.

Head of the local council Bob Hadley said he believes it is premature to ease the lockdown.

"We are very concerned. We would rather things were left as they are until the end of the current three-week lockdown."

Bourton's most famous site - the miniature model village of Bourton - remains closed.

Owner Andrew Lund-Yates said visitors had been intercepted by police and fined.

"We've heard people being challenged and asked to leave."

Lund-Yates said it would be better for tourists to be encouraged to visit the wider area of the Cotswolds, so they don't concentrate in hotspots.

Rachel Sutton and Emeka Elliot are meeting up for the first time since lockdown restrictions were eased - allowing people to meet up with 1 person outside their households.

But they are concerned about tourists coming in.

"Because at the moment the village is quite safe, we haven't got very many cases," Elliot said.

Janice Mills who manages a local tourist shop said she understands why people from cities might want to drive to the countryside.

Although she is more concerned about how local businesses will survive the lockdown.

"I would say my main concern is the fact that now the shops are not taking any money."

Michael Clarkson and Charlotte Campbell were keen to make the most of the first day of the easing of the lockdown and travelled an hour and a half from the county of Staffordshire.

"We've been given green card to go and roam," said Clarkson.

"Mainly just to see different scenery. It's good for the brain, it's good for us."