Don't break coronavirus lockdown to visit our wild goats, warn Welsh police

Police have urged people not to visit a small Welsh town that has been taken over by wild goats during the coronavirus lockdown because it is "non-essential travel".

Videos of Kashmiri goats wandering freely through the streets of Llandudno, in north Wales, have circulated the Internet this week.

The goats, which were first reported by Manchester Evening News journalist Andrew Stuart, have been eating plants, walking in the road and sleeping in the churchyard.

But police officers have now have told people tempted to go see the goats' antics themselves not to come - as it would not be essential travel and would go against lockdown rules.

Officers said in a Facebook post: "It's great to see the media reaction around the Great Orme Goats that we are very fond of locally.

"However, please do not travel to Llandudno to see them at this time, that would not be essential travel and is putting unnecessary demand on all public services."

But North Wales Police encouraged people to visit when the lockdown is over.

The Kashmiri goats belong to a herd of around 120 that live in the mountainous Great Orme area near Llandudno.

They are thought to have been introduced to the Great Orme in 1907 from the Royal Family’s Windsor Great Park herd.

The goats originate from a breeding pair gifted to Queen Victoria by the Shah of Persia in 1837 upon the former's accession to the throne.