VENICE —

A couple from the United Kingdom had to cut their vacation in Venice short after being caught swimming in the Grand Canal.

The 35-year-old British man and his 25-year-old Romanian girlfriend were forced to return to their home in the U.K. on Thursday, the same day they arrived in the city, after gondoliers reported them to local police for taking a dip in the canal.

The pair were fined €450 ($529) each and expelled from Venice for 48 hours, marking the 1,136th such sanction to be handed down to badly behaved tourists in the city so far this year, according to the Venice City Police.

The unnamed couple took the plunge near the Accademia bridge near St. Mark’s Square and gondoliers at the Rio San Vidal kiosk immediately called authorities, who removed them from the water.

“I th

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