THE Dales national park authority has repeated its appeal urging people to stay away from the area.

People should stay home, exercise locally, and not make any unnecessary trips to or around the national park, it says.

The warning comes after last weekend, when two ill equipped visitors travelled to the Dales from Rochdale to climb Ingleborough and had to be rescued by the Cave Rescue Organisation after becoming stranded on the summit in failing light and poor weather conditions.

Neil Heseltine, chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said: “We’re asking everyone to please respect each other by respecting the guidelines.

"Travelling lengthy distances to walk around Ribblehead, Malham Cove or up Ingleborough is not acceptable and puts your safety, the safety of people you come across and the safety of emergency services at risk.

“As we’ve said before, many in our community fall into the most vulnerable category of people. Please show them the consideration you would your own family and friends and stay home this weekend.

“Finally, I would like to thank our partners at North Yorkshire and Cumbria Police for their support in engaging, explaining, encouraging, and enforcing the guidance."

Government guidance states:

• No-one should be coming to the national park for recreation or leisure - for example, for a picnic or a social meeting.

• No-one should travel outside their local area for exercise.

The national park car parks and toilets remain open for local people taking exercise and for use by the emergency services.