CARLISLE, Newcastle, Bristol, and other towns and cities near the English borders were descended on by crowds of young people from Scotland and Wales looking to celebrate the New Year away from Covid restrictions, according to reports.
One clip from BBC News doing the rounds on social media shows two women who had travelled from Glasgow to Carlisle to celebrate the New Year free from lockdown.
The girls say they have crossed the Border “because there’s no restrictions, and all of our friends have Covid”.
They say that they were not put off visiting the English town by government advice, instead claiming the warnings “encouraged us more”.
..Why have you come to Carlisle from Glasgow?
— UK is with EU (@ukiswitheu) December 31, 2021
..Because there are no restrictions and all of our friends have covid#bbcnews #ToryCovidCatastrophe pic.twitter.com/TqL81Lh38m
Staff at one hotel in Carlisle told the BBC they expected "half of the central belt" to be heading to the town, and said that while people may complain they didn't mind in the end as it was all "money in the till".
That hotel reported being fully booked on Hogmanay, with many rooms taken by people from Scotland.
The PA news agency spoke to one group of young people (pictured below) who had travelled from Dundee to celebrate the New Year in Newcastle.
Further reports in The Times say that the numbers of revellers in cities near the Welsh border were boosted by people heading to England to celebrate.
Both Scotland and Wales ordered nightclubs to shut in a bid to stem the rising tide of Omicron amid record high case numbers. However, England did not impose such restrictions.
Reports said that nightlife was quieter than a normal New Year as older people tended to stay away, but young people were still out in force.
One partygoer in Newcastle told The Times that there had been “tonnes” of Scottish people on the train down.
“I was on a ‘dry’ train,” she said. “So there were a lot of people sneaking little cans of Tennent’s.”
Another added: “Our hotel is clearly full of people going on nights out, and they’re all Scottish as well.”
Others said the decision to make the trip had been a “no-brainer”.
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