By July 2020, Cornwall welcomed an extra 80,000 visitors as businesses opened for the first time since the country’s first national lockdown.
As people crowded beaches and cars jammed roads, locals expressed their fury at the sudden influx, with even a banner displayed over the A30 at Bodmin telling tourists to “f*** off”. At the time, Mr Bell described the sign as “offensive and unforgivable”.
In his interview with Cornwall Live over the weekend, Mr Bell continued: “Last year, in particular, should be a salutary note, like burning your fingers as a kid you learn not to do that again.
“It’s great having a good road system now but it does open us up, and the pandemic opened us up to things that were quite difficult to cope with.