POLICE were out in force in the West Somerset countryside last weekend dealing with people stuck in snow while taking to the hills, despite warnings that the lockdown had made their journeys illegal.

A police spokesman said: “We have been kept fully occupied with people travelling to snowy areas to go sledging, in minibuses and other vehicles, and getting into difficulties.

“Driving some distance to sledge is non-essential travel and against the current regulations, and in many instances has resulted in Covid fines.

“We know people love to get out into the snowy countryside as a break from being cooped up in lockdown but sledging is only allowed in places you can walk to.”

Several Exmoor villages were temporarily cut off over the weekend and Travel Somerset reported that snowploughs cleared all major moorland roads with the help of local

farmers.

More than 30 rescue workers were called out after a car lost control in snowy conditions in the Quantock Hills on Sunday. Two women had to be freed from the vehicle by firefighters after it smashed into a roadside bank at Buncombe Hill, near Broomfield.

Police said the occupants were breaching Covid restrictions at the time. They issued a penalty and seized the vehicle. Rescuers from Taunton and Nether Stowey stabilised the vehicle and freed the occupants, who were unhurt.

A Nether Stowey fire service spokesman said that after reports that there had been a serious multi-vehicle collision, 19 firefighters were sent to the scene, plus three ambulances and doctors, an air ambulance and five police officers.

“Thankfully it turned out to be one car ditched and several other vehicles stuck in the snow – all for an uninsured driver taking friends for a drive, who ran out of talent in the snow. This could all have been avoided had they stayed at home.”

Police carried out patrols across the area and had to deal with several vehicles making illegal non-essential journeys through the snow. Lydeard Hill was a particular blackspot.

A neighbourhood policing team spokesman said those leaving home to enjoy the snow and getting stuck had placed a heavy demand on the emergency services. “We have had to tell numerous people that they should only be travelling if their journeys were essential.

“Driving somewhere to sledge was what we were advising against, bearing in mind how many accidents we have had to deal with since snow became a problem.”