Gwent Police stopped more than 300 people travelling over the bank holiday weekend as part of their road patrols.
Between Saturday and Monday, 326 people were stopped in the force area, which covers Newport, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Monmouthshire.
Officers also stopped more than 50 people visiting from outside of Gwent on one day of the bank holiday weekend alone, with 52 "visitors who travelled to the force area" being advised to return home on Saturday, May 23.
The patrols included some border routes with England, including the A466 in Chepstow.
“We are aware that we had a number of visitors who travelled to the force area,” said a Gwent Police spokesperson.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors and those living in our neighbouring areas back to Wales in the future and when the time is right. While it is encouraging to see that the message is getting across to people, we would like to re-emphasise the message of the Welsh Government and the First Minister: please visit Wales later. Now is not the time.”
Between Friday and Monday, Gwent Police stopped people from as far afield as the West Midlands, and the force area also reported visitors from Herefordshire.
The force did not have a record of how many of the total people stopped at the weekend had come from either England or neighbouring Welsh police force areas, but a Gwent Police spokesperson said the force "did have a large portion of people that came across the border".
From Friday (May 22) to bank holiday Monday, the police force stopped 417 vehicles in total as part of their ongoing checks and a “number” of vehicles were seized.
Here is a daily breakdown of how many vehicles were stopped:
- Friday, May 22 - 91
- Saturday, May 23 - 107
- Sunday, May 24 - 123
- Monday, May 25 - 96
A spokesperson said officers saw a number of motorcycles turning around immediately after seeing a police presence on the roads.
They added: “It was great to see the overwhelming majority of the people responding positively to our officers, and members of the public that we did speak to were understanding as to why they were stopped.
“Our approach continues to involve engaging with the public, explaining the situation and encouraging them to follow the advice we have all received.
“However, if we consider that people are ignoring government advice or if we are finding people are repeatedly disregarding the guidance, we have and will continue to take enforcement action.”
Officers also issued speeding tickets and arrested individuals driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs as part of their checks at the weekend.
The force reported that this May bank holiday was quieter in terms of call volume than the previous May bank holiday weekend, but that away from the roads officers also responded to calls from members of the public about social gatherings and house parties taking place in the force area.
According to data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, between March 27 and April 27, Gwent Police issued 71 fixed penalty notices to members of the public for the UK after lockdown regulation breaches.
It comes after WalesOnline joined officers carrying out journey checks as part of their bank holiday patrols near the English border in Monmouthshire last Friday to learn more about what they were doing to try and keep English visitors out of Wales while the two countries have differing lockdown rules. You can read more on that here.
