Coastal village enjoys quieter day as MP says not to visit

One seaside village has seen a welcome break from the volume of visitors that have flocked to its beach on previous days this week.

Sea Palling has been quieter today (Thursday) than on previous days, said Kay Colby, who lives and works in the village.

She said: “Yesterday it was wall to wall with people - the road was a bit reminiscent of the M25.

“It’s totally different today, so much quieter.”

Mrs Colby said it was understandable that village residents would feel anxious about an influx of visitors, after two months when non-essential travel has been against the law.

She said: “All you can ask of people is to be respectful of where they are.

“The message has been unclear - on the one hand they say stay at home as much as possible, but on the other we’re told we can go out to exercise as much as we want. People interpret that in different ways.”

Duncan Baker, North Norfolk MP, said people should try to stay away from coastal villages in the coming days.

Mr Baker said: “People should think carefully about whether they need to come to the tourist hot spots. Is it really necessary? The volume of people coming causes a great deal of stress and anxiety to those residents.

“We do need to control the virus and that is best done by ensuring we social distance. That’s harder if we all go to the smaller places.”

But Mr Baker said “inevitably, some will come” and he has asked Norfolk police to send more officers to patrol the area over the bank holiday weekend in an effort to ensure visitors observe social distancing.

He asked people to consider exercising closer to where they live, or going to areas of countryside inland “to give our coastal villages and towns breathing space”.

He said: “It’s a massive balancing act - we want to reduce the numbers coming while understanding that you’re legally allowed to drive somewhere to exercise.

“Please plan ahead and think carefully about how you will be able to social distance.”