The potential consequences of last weekend's crowding of the Lake District have been well documented.

With very little social distancing and a huge increase in road traffic, many Cumbrians are worried that tourists could have facilitated the spread of coronavirus in a county which has already been badly affected by the pandemic.

But, as we report on page 16 of today's Mail, an extra consequence of this Lake District gold rush is the environmental harm that has been done to our beautiful national park.

Lake District residents have reacted with anger at the mountains of rubbish which were left behind by inconsiderate tourists over the weekend.

Over 300 bags of litter were collected by national park staff over the previous weekend.

Items include BBQ, gas cannisters and discarded food.

Richard Leafe, chief executive of the Lake District National Park Authority said: “We’ve had some real issues with littering, fires, illegal camping and terrible car parking in the last couple of weeks."

If those tourists truly love the Lake District, they should act responsibly.

Mr Leafe added: “Our communities have been hit hard by COVID19 and as they start to recover, we ask all our visitors to be kind to both people and the place when they arrive."