Venice is to employ unprecedented crowd control measures to separate tourists from locals as the World Heritage city braces for a busy bank holiday weekend.

Tourists trying to reach the most popular landmarks – St Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge – will be diverted to visitor-only routes, away from long-suffering locals who have for years complained that their day-to-day lives are made a misery by the invasion of visitors.

With the arrival of warm weather in Italy and the tourist season in full swing in La Serenissima, as the maritime republic was once called, there are fears of severe congestion in the city’s narrow streets and alleyways.