SHROPSHIRE Council has moved to remind residents in the county to continue to observe social distancing ahead of the Bank Holiday Weekend.

After reports of group parties and gatherings last week, the council is urging people to continue to follow the guidelines set out by the government that allows people to exercise.

If you do visit a Shropshire Council site, you must follow the signage to ensure that excessive numbers of people are not passing through gates, minimising possible contact with other people, and reducing the number of people touching latches.

Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture, leisure, waste and communications, admitted she was disappointed to hear of news of gatherings.

She said: “While I’m sure the majority of people have been maintaining social distancing and behaving responsibly, I am extremely disappointed at reports that so many people have been unashamedly breaking government guidelines.

“These rules are in place to protect people. If not yourself, please think about other visitors, our staff and people in the community.

"The chances are that all of us will know someone who is vulnerable. By breaking social distancing rules you could be endangering them, so please stop and consider how your actions will impact others.

“Although our car parks are open, we strongly encourage you to exercise locally to help us manage the number of people visiting our parks and sites and to protect everyone.

“If you do travel to one of our sites, you must behave responsibly. Anyone seen breaking the government rules will be reported to the police.”

If you do choose to travel to exercise at one of our sites, we strongly recommend that you plan your visit and research the many sites that are available.

This will help to avoid everyone visiting the most popular sites at the same time, and make your time exercising safer.

When planning to travel, please remember that full lockdown restrictions are still in place in other parts of the UK.

You must maintain social distancing and stay two metres apart from anyone that is not from your household, and this will make this much easier.

Visitor centres, cafés, play areas and toilets at all sites will remain closed until further notice to protect staff and visitors.

Barbecues are also not permitted at any countryside sites, due to the increased fire risk, to avoid putting our emergency services under unnecessary added pressure.

If you or a member of your household has symptoms of COVID-19, you must stay at home and not visit any sites.