Gwent Police remain silent over enforcing Wales’ travel ban

Gwent Police has refused to be drawn on how it will enforce the Welsh Government travel ban into the country.

Wales will ban people from coronavirus hotspots in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from 6pm on Friday (October 16).

The controversial plans have been criticised by the UK Government and branded “unenforceable” by the Police Federation.

When asked by Caerphilly Observer on its plans regarding the policy and what Chief Constable Pam Kelly thinks, Gwent Police said it was not currently carrying out any media interviews and issued a statement.

It reads: “We will review the regulations when published, and we will continue to support the Welsh Government in trying to slow down the spread of the virus.

“We will continue to engage, explain, encourage and enforce where required. Our officers will work with individuals to encourage them to make the right decisions to keep Gwent and Wales safe.”

Gwent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert also took a similar stance.

He said: “We are currently waiting on more information from Welsh Government to fully understand what implications this will have for policing in Gwent.”

Speaking on Wednesday, when the plans were announced by First Minister Mark Drakeford, Mark Bleasdale, the Police Federation’s Welsh lead, said: “On the face of it, this is unenforceable because of the difficulty of identifying where people are coming from and where they are going to.

“There will also be plenty of individuals travelling legitimately from areas which are not high risk, and this will only add to the other difficulties officers face when policing the existing regulations.”

In media interviews, the First Minister has suggested automatic number plate recognition could be used to police the ban and that extra patrols on Welsh roads will be in place.

He told BBC Breakfast that issuing fines would be a final resort.

He said: “What we want to do is to reinforce the message to people that this is a public health emergency that they should not be travelling from high incidence areas to low incidence areas.”

The UK Government’s Welsh Secretary, Simon Hart MP, has said the ban risks “stirring division and confusion” in a letter to Mr Drakeford.

He wrote: “I remain worried that, without rapid explanation, this approach risks stirring division and confusion in Wales.”