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Traffic congestion was down by up to 50 percent compared to recent Mondays as the rush hour thinned out, while almost 20 per cent fewer people used the London underground, travel tech firm TomTom found. One loner tweeted: “I’m in a flat slap bang in the middle of London and the roads are unbelievably quiet now.” Businesses meanwhile issued a warning about the damaging impact of the new work-from-home diktat.

Tony Danker, director of the Confederation for British Industry, said: “Having work from home as a go-to Covid measure brings a significant economic cost. “Some economic activity is displaced to local areas, but it also leaves our town and city centres under real strain for retailers and hospitality.”

Director of the British Chambers of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland, agreed, saying: “It is simply not good enough for the Government to say at this juncture that ‘enough support has been provided’ and leave it at that.”

Sir John Timpson, chairman of the shoe repair and keycutting chain, said business had fallen five per cent since Omicron was identified and added that it could fall a further 10 per cent due to the new rule. “This is going to keep happening again and again,” he added. “There will be more variants.”

And Kate Nicholls, chief executive of Hospitality UK, said the change would “have a dampening effect just as we were about to head into our busiest trading period”. A wave of Christmas party and event cancellations have affected pubs, restaurants, bars and nightclubs across Britain – while Alice Cassinelli, owner of Sheffield’s Dysh cafe, commented: “The drop in trade is definitely unnerving.”

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