Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams is to write to Dyfed-Powys Police seeking clarity on a new five-mile travel rule introduced as part of an easing of lockdown restrictions in Wales.

First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the new lockdown rules today, with the change coming into force from Monday.

It includes the right for members of two households to meet up in open areas within five miles of their home – although he added that this would involve some discretion by the public, adding: “If you have to travel a long distance now to get essential items, you will be allowed to travel further to meet up with friends or family.”

Responding to the new rules, Mr Williams said: “It is important that both the UK and Welsh Governments avoid arbitrary universal rules like a five-mile restriction, which cause confusion, if caveated with ‘use your judgement’.

"It is also unfair on those who are to enforce the rules to make them subjective and I will be writing to Dyfed Powys Police and the Home Office to ask for clarification on how ‘use your judgement’ is to be policed.

“Throughout this crisis I have asked people to use their common sense, and this continues. However, a five-mile rule shows a Labour/Liberal Democrat Welsh Government who at best are unfamiliar with our rural way of life within Montgomeryshire, or at worst one that simply doesn’t care.”

The Conservative MP had also said that a five-mile restriction would "adversely penalise" rural areas such as Montgomeryshire, adding: “Whereas the Welsh Labour Government might only be thinking of the towns and cities within South Wales, much of Wales is populated by rural communities who do not live within five-miles of their family and friends. It is wrong to impose a rule that only benefits some sections of Wales’ population, yet directly punishes others."