Four passengers were fined £10,000 each after failing to declare they had arrived in the UK from a “red list” country, police said.

West Midlands Police said the offenders were caught after landing at Birmingham Airport on Monday, the first day that tougher border rules came into force.

Travellers arriving in England who have been in a country at high risk of coronavirus variants in the past 10 days must declare this on a form and isolate in a hotel for at least 11 nights at at an initial cost of £1,750.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd told a meeting held by West Midlands Police’s strategic policing and crime board: “By midday yesterday (Monday), on the first day of implementation, we have received six passengers who had declared travelling from a red list country, who were taken to the quarantine hotel.

“We also had four passengers who were identified as having travelled from a red list country, that hadn’t declared it.

“So there are some people who have attempted to hide their routes but that’s not worked out.

“They were identified and received £10,000 fines as a result.”

There are 33 countries on the Government’s “red list”, including Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, South America and southern Africa.

The Government has banned direct flights from those locations to the UK.

The four people fined had flown to Birmingham via a country not on the list.

Only people who are UK or Irish nationals or UK residents are allowed to enter the UK from a “red list” country.

Those returning must arrive at one of eight airports.

Mr Todd added that six passengers had flown to Manchester Airport – not one of the designated airports – despite spending time in a “red list” location.

They were transferred to Birmingham for hotel quarantining.

Scotland has extended the requirement to isolate in a hotel to cover arrivals from any country, unless they have travelled from or via the common travel area (CTA), which includes the UK and Ireland.

This loophole led to a man and his daughter who entered the programme on Monday being allowed to leave after just one day and complete their isolation at home.

Chun Wong and eight-year-old Kiernan arrived at Edinburgh Airport from the US via a connecting flight in Dublin, and were taken to a nearby hotel to begin their quarantine.

However, Mr Wong was later contacted by officials to tell him he did not need to abide by the rules.

It emerged on Tuesday that guests will be charged an additional £152 daily fee if they are forced to extend their stay due to a positive coronavirus test.

A positive result from a test taken on day two will lengthen a traveller’s stay by two nights at a cost of £304.

If the day eight test returns a positive reading, the guest must remain in their room for an additional eight nights and pay £1,216.