HUNDREDS of Brits have packed out a London high street and queued up at a department store during the coronavirus lockdown.
Crowds stopped to chat along Broadway Market, East London, while shoppers pushed trollies full of items out of The Range in Leicester this weekend.
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Three men were spotted strolling along with pints in their hands in the popular Hackney street, lined with bars, cafes and boutiques.
Brits can still buy a beer or a coffee, despite the lockdown, as businesses are allowed to operate on a take-away basis only.
In Leicester, people left the popular department store with patio furniture and household items as they took advantage of The Range being considered an “essential” store.
Police patrolled the streets of central London as visitors walked through Trafalgar Square and others hopped on bikes to get their exercise this afternoon.
The bustling scenes in London and Leicester come as Britain’s coronavirus death toll today hit 28,446 with 315 more people died in the UK in the last 24 hours.
The grim jump in deaths means the country remains one of the worst hit by the deadly bug in the world.
Britain is edging closer to becoming the worst affected in Europe, with the coronavirus-hit Italy’s death toll currently sitting at 28,710.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
In an effort to get a hold of the ever-increasing death toll, government minisers are working on plans to nearly double lockdown fines to £100 for the first breach and then £3,200 for repeat offenders.
Recent figures show that 400 fixed penalty notices were dished out by cops for consistent rule breakers in four weeks to April 27 in England Wales.
One person was even fined six times.
Hand in hand with the new rules will come tougher enforcement powers for the police to crack down on the small minority who break the rules
Whitehall source
Under the new no-nonsense regime a fine will start at £100 then double for a repeat offence.
A third offence would see a £400 fine, a fourth £800, then £1,600 and finally a sixth offence would cost £3,200.
This would mean that a consistent rule flouter would end up footing a bill of £6,300.
Failing to pay the penalty could result in a court date and prison time.
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A Whitehall source said: “In the next phase of our fight against coronavirus some of the social distancing measures will be relaxed, others will be toughened up.
“Hand in hand with the new rules will come tougher enforcement powers for the police to crack down on the small minority who break the rules – and stop them putting everyone else at greater risk.”
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