A three foot wall has proved no match for sneaky travellers who have been spotted jumping over the NSW border to slip into Queensland.
The 700m long wall was set up along Dixon Street in Coolangatta at the border on Thursday after reports drivers had been avoiding checkpoints by using backstreets.
The Queensland government is stopping anybody from NSW hotspots Campbelltown and Liverpool, along with anyone from Victoria, from entering the sunshine state.
But on Friday a number of rule breakers were caught jumping over the makeshift wall, Seven News reported.
Sneaky travellers have been caught jumping over the wall set up at the NSW/Queensland border on Friday (pictured)
The Queensland government is stopping anybody from NSW hotspots Campbelltown and Liverpool from entering the sunshine state (pictured, police at the Coolangatta checkpoint)
A woman speaks to reporters about the barrier at the NSW/QLD border on Friday after it was set up a day earlier
The wall has sparked frustration in many residents living near the border as they are set back by huge daily delays to get to and from work.
All NSW-registered vehicles are carefully being checked by police, with those found entering Queensland unlawfully incurring a $4,003 fine.
The barricades, which have been filled with water so they can’t be moved, have turned quick trips for residents into two-hour-long journeys.
‘A gentleman I know, he does his banking in Coolangatta, his chemist is in Coolangatta, post office and he to somehow get around that now. He’s 70-something years old,’ one local said.
For him to get into town to do his daily activities, he’s now got to go down that hill and go the long way around.’
One man is seen walking near the barrier at the Gold Coast on Friday
The 700m long wall was set up along Dixon Street in Coolangatta (pictured) at the NSW/QLD border on Thursday after reports drivers had been avoiding checkpoints by using backstreets
There are now talks to move the barricades to Tweed Heads to make it more convenient for those living in the border town (pictured, police stop a motorcyclist at NSW/QLD border)
One car drives alongside the border wall set up in Coolangatta at the NSW/QLD border
Cars line the sides of Dixon Street after the three foot border wall was constructed on Thursday in Coolangatta
Gold Coast chief superintendent Mark Wheeler said the idea arose after people were caught using alternative routes to sneak into Queensland.
‘We were finding people were encroaching across the fencing that was there and coming into Queensland technically unlawfully,’ he said.
‘We’re funneling tens of thousands of vehicles a day through one lane to visually assess and then filter either to an express lane or to an inspection bay.
‘So irrespective of saving time, and we will, there will still be delays.’
One man has already been fined $4,003 after lying about coming from Melbourne.
The 27-year-old had been turned away twice before he was caught lying on his border form.
There are now talks to move the barricades to Tweed Heads to make it more convenient for those living in the border town.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll urged both Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to discuss the issue.
‘Certainly, in terms of flows, it would address some of the issues, because the largest congestion is between Coolangatta (on the Gold Coast) and Tweed,’ Ms Carroll said on Friday.
‘I hope they have those conversations, but if it stays the way it does, which I suspect it will do so, we will keep saying that you need to plan your trip.
‘Part of that plan is that you will sit in queues for an extended period of time.’
One resident speaks to the media after the 700m barricades were set up at the NSW/QLD border
A woman is seen walking around the NSW/QLD border wall with a suitcase and dog on Friday
There are now talks to move the barricades to Tweed Heads to make it more convenient for those living in the border town