Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, the London Mayor claimed police officers will be used on transport and on the streets of the capital to enforce lockdown rules in the capital to combat the coronavirus crisis. Mr Khan was asked: “Do you see a role in which you see the police monitoring tube stations, monitoring shopping centres, being on the streets actively intervening saying why are you out, go home – and if they don’t get the answer, issuing fines? Or is that not what you want to see?”

The London Mayor replied: “It’s definitely not what I want to see but one of the things that we’ve got to realise is that if people don’t follow the instructions, don’t follow the rules there needs to be a fallback and that means enforcement.

“The Great British public will by enlarge follow these rules. I’m so proud of the efforts of London whether that is retired NHS workers or TFL staff or the police.

“But it’s really important we understand that these rules are there for a reason.

“So the Bill going through Parliament this week gives the police and council officers this additional power.”

Several images posted to social media showed passengers once again packed into busy carriages on the London Underground on Tuesday morning.

Nurse Julia Harris, who commutes to work at Imperial College NHS Trust, said she had left earlier and changed her route to avoid crowds but still found the District Line to be busy.

She told the PA news agency: “Seats on the train all had at least one person so people needed to stand and the District Line was busy as well.

“I still don’t think things are improved as a large number of people are commuting early in the morning.

“It is concerning because I have to come to work. The choice isn’t there and my commute is quite long. I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in the hospital.”

Ms Harris said the reduction in Transport for London services meant “you now have more people waiting and piling onto the tubes and trains.”

“The issue is key workers aren’t just health professionals – I think we under-estimated how many people are needed to keep things running.”

As images showed more crowding on the Tube network, Sadiq Khan tweeted: “I cannot say this more strongly.

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“We must stop all non-essential use of public transport now. Employers: please support your staff to work from home unless it’s absolutely necessary.

“Ignoring these rules means more lives lost.”

As of 9am on March 23, a total of 83,945 people have been tested, of which 77,295 were confirmed negative and 6,650 were confirmed positive.

As of 1pm on March 23, 335 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.

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