German police chased daytrippers off the slopes of a closed ski resort on Sunday (January 3) after hundreds of people had flocked to Winterberg, east of Duesseldorf, defying appeals from authorities to "stay home" and respect coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Earlier in the day, police had sought to block access to the shut down town in an attempt to enforce strict regulations in place across the country since December 16.

"Yesterday, there were again repeated violations of the coronavirus restrictions and the requirement to wear face masks," said local police spokesman Sebastian Held.

"This has led the town to ban people from entering some of the ski slopes," he added.

Winterberg saw a rush of thousands of people in recent days which led to traffic jams, overcrowded parking lots and several breaches of anti-COVID-19 regulations, according to local police.

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