London commuters pack onto early morning Tube with NO social distancing as capital records highest Covid rate - The Sun

Brits were seen piling into carriages at Canning Town station this morning - for the second day in a row - in exclusive footage taken by the Sun Online.

Transport for London had insisted the crowds had only formed because three Jubilee Line Tubes were cancelled, but the scenes were again mimicked this morning.

While the latest figures have shown London's Covid cases have started to drop, the capital has the highest rate of infection - currently standing at 864.9 per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 10, according to Public Health England’s latest weekly surveillance report.

Newham Council area, which includes Canning Town, has been hit hard with 1,398 cases per 100,000 people in the latest figures for the week of January 3 to January 9.

But despite the worrying rise in cases, it has been revealed that around twice as many people are now using the London Underground and twice as many people using cars and buses compared to the first lockdown last year.

British Transport Police were this morning deployed to Canning Town and West Ham amid the crowded scenes, and thanked commuters for wearing masks.

Nick Dent, London Underground’s Director of Line Operations, said the Canning Town platforms had been "very occasionally busy" between 6am and 7am.

"Canning Town and West Ham are our busiest stations early in the morning and we are contacting large employers in the area to urge them to stagger shifts and operating hours to enable those who have to travel to work to travel in the quieter times.".

He added: "We are doing everything we can to help ensure those who need to travel for legally permitted reasons are able to do so in a safe way and maintain social distancing, as well as targeted communications to encourage people to travel at quiet times.

But when pressed over what he would have done, he said: "I would encourage people not to get into crowded situations.

But after footage of busy scenes at Canning Town were shared online yesterday, Brits hit out at the situation many had found themselves in during the lockdown.