PEOPLE who are tempted to visit the Lake District following the government’s easing of coronavirus lockdown rules are being urged to stay away.

The county is simply not yet ready for a flood of visitors.

That unambiguous message was issued by local officials yesterday, just a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined a more relaxed regime had taken effect, allowing people to travel for exercise and visit parks.

The advice on the need to respect social distance – of at least two metres between each person – remains the same.

But the team leading Cumbria’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic fears that a possible flood of visitors could create unnecessary risk for local communities, and emergency workers of all kinds.

The county’s multi-agency Local Resilience Forum is urging people to “stay local” for their exercise and not rush to the Lake District. This is partly because many key facilities – including toilets – are not currently open.

Andy Slattery, Cumbria’s Assistant Chief Constable, who also chairs the county’s Local Resilience Forum, said: “The real test for this will be Saturday and Sunday on this coming weekend. We don’t expect to see any immediate changes because the Lake District is not yet ready in terms of its infrastructure.

“We know people love the Lakes and when the time is right we will of course warmly welcome back visitors.

“But now is not the right time. Cumbria has been one of the worst-affected parts of the UK and coronavirus is far from over. We still have people being infected and people dying in the county on a daily basis. People coming into the county from elsewhere just makes the job of containing and controlling the outbreak more difficult.

“We’ve said it before: the Lake District isn’t going anywhere, so please put off your visit for now.”

Those who do visit are being urged to bear some key messages in mind.

They should respect local communities by:

n Being considerate and not doing things that increase the risk or cause problems for local people, particularly the vulnerable, so avoid using paths through farmers’ yards; keep your dog on a lead and take your litter home.

n Planning ahead and avoiding busy places: use saferlakes.co.uk to park safely and considerately and avoid the more popular destinations.

n Bringing their own food and drink to avoid pressure on local shops. and considering the lack of toilet and washing facilities.

They should avoid unnecessary risks on the fells, on the water or on the roads, and stay within the limits of their ability and equipment.

And they should stick to the Government’s social distancing rules, avoiding overnight stays, not camping, and not visiting second homes.

Richard Leafe, chief executive at the Lake District National Park Authority, said: “We understand that people are keen to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of the Lake District National Park, however we’re appealing to people not to rush back.

“Many of the facilities that visitors usually enjoy, such as toilets, restaurants and campsites, are not open, so it’s a very different experience in the National Park at the moment. If people are exercising, we’d urge you not to take unnecessary risks to help protect our volunteer mountain rescue service and local communities.”

Cumbria’s Director of Public Health Colin Cox added: “We have had well over 2,000 confirmed infections and around 400 deaths as a result of Covid-19 and it’s only as a result of the lockdown restrictions that those grim totals aren’t even worse.

“We understand lockdown can’t last forever, we certainly don’t want it to, but I’d urge people to really consider whether a visit to the Lake District is the right thing to do at the current time. As the Government says, the best way to beat this virus remains to stay home as much as possible.”