Officers were at the airport
Officers were at the airport (Picture: @IosSgt)

Police turned back five people who had travelled from a Tier 4 area to the Isles of Scilly for a holiday.

They arrived on Christmas Eve at St Mary’s Airport, but were told to leave again.

The Scilly Isles are the only place in England still under tier 1 restrictions for coronavirus, the lowest level.

A spokesman for the force tweeted: ‘Xmas eve at St Marys 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

Responding, one woman wrote: ‘Well done! We are in Tier 4 and wouldn’t dream of being so selfish. Have very happy memories of the Isles of Scilly on our honeymoon 15 years ago and hope all stay safe.’

Another said: ‘Well done!! But how absolutely disgraceful that these people thought it was ok to go to the islands. Shame on them!!’

Local councollor Steve Sims, 62, told the Sun that Scilly has only had two recorded cases of Covid-19.

He said: ‘It’s been a combination of our isolation, a lot of luck and, importantly, a huge amount of hard work by the council’s public health team, transport providers, local businesses and not least the islanders and our visitors taking Covid very seriously.’

But he said islanders are ‘certainly not celebrating’ as they feel for the rest of the UK.

There are only around 2,500 people living on the Isles of Scilly.

They usually welcome thousands of tourists every year, but this year numbers are drastically down.

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