The first weekend of relaxed lockdown rules have seen a warning issued by Lancashire County Council.

Dozens of daytrippers are expected to head for country parks in Preston and Lancashire.

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Beacon Fell, Wycoller and the Forest of Bowland are all due to see an increase in visitors.

But Lancashire County Council is urging the county council to keep to the social distancing measures while out and about.

Car parks at Beacon Fell and other country parks are open but facilities such as visitor centres, cafes and toilets are closed.

Those visiting are being warned waste bins are not currently being emptied so litter should be taken back home.

Cabinet member for technical services, rural affairs and waste management, county councillor Albert Atkinson, said: “People can come and use our country parks, but we want them to be mindful that places like car parks and picnic areas can easily be overcrowded.

“There are miles of open countryside with good public footpaths and easy access across Lancashire. We’d urge people to consider visiting these areas nearby where they live too.

“Staff who usually work in our parks have currently been redeployed to work on other Covid-19 related duties.

“If you do visit our parks, it’s worth bearing in mind that many facilities will be closed because of this.”

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Countryside service manager for the county council, Tim Blythe, said: “It’s great that people now have more flexibility in the way they can exercise outdoors.

“However, when choosing where to go, we want people to consider whether traveling is necessary and whether it will be easy to keep to the social distancing rules when they get there.

“When large numbers of people travel to one area, it becomes very difficult to socially distance, putting you and your family at risk.

“This will be the case if too many people visit our country parks. If people do visit, we’d ask them to follow the countryside code, take their litter home and be aware of the wildlife in the parks, which has been thriving during lockdown.

“We’d also urge them to keep to the social distancing guidelines so we can all continue to do our best to protect our key workers and reduce the pressures on the NHS.”

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