Travellers coming to the UK from international destinations could find themselves facing spot checks of £1000 if they fail to self isolate for 14 days.
Under new measures to guard against a second wave of coronavirus, the UK Government is expected to outline the plans which will be introduced early next month, a senior Government official confirmed.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is due to provide full details during the daily Downing Street briefing later today.
Exemptions to the rules will apply for road hauliers and medical officials and common travel with Ireland will be unaffected.
Arrivals from France will not be exempt, the official has confirmed after there was confusion earlier this week.
Travellers will be asked to fill out a form with contact details and health officials will perform spot checks to ensure compliance with the quarantine measures.
The new plans are expected to anger some sectors, with Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary branding the plan “idiotic” and "unimplementable" earlier this week.
Trade body Airlines UK has previously said a quarantine "would effectively kill" international travel to and from Britain.
Many other countries already require arriving passengers to enter a 14-day quarantine, including New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and the US.
This is despite the World Health Organisation saying in February that measures which "significantly interfere" with international travel "may only be justified at the beginning of an outbreak".
