Police on tier 1 Isles of Scilly return Christmas holidaymakers who travelled from tier 4

Enforcement of coronavirus restrictions come as neighbouring Cornwall moves up to tier 2

Police on the Isles of Scilly refused entry to five people who had flown in on Christmas Eve after they apparently broke Covid travel restrictions.

The islands are the only part of England to be in tier 1 and police said a handful of travellers were turned away on Thursday after arriving from a tier 4 area, where a stay-at-home order is in place.

Those arriving by plane over Christmas were greeted by officers from the Devon and Cornwall Police Isles of Scilly team and a local ambulance crew.

Police tweeted: “Xmas eve at St Mary’s airport. 5 people turned away today having travelled from Tier 4 regions for a holiday.

“We’re proud and protective of being the only Tier 1 region in the country and have been working with Skybus and mainland colleagues to keep it that way.”

St Mary’s Airport on the Isles of Scilly is served by several Skybus flights a day from Lands End Airport, near Penzance in Cornwall.

Under tier 1, classed as “medium alert”, people can meet indoors or outdoors with those not in their household, but must keep the group size to no more than six.

Bars, pubs, restaurants and shops can remain open and travelling and overnight stays are permitted.

Neighbouring Cornwall moved from tier 1 to tier 2 on Boxing Day while tier 4, the highest level of coronavirus restrictions, was extended to cover large swathes of eastern and southeast England.