Warm weather and the last weekend before the tightening of restrictions saw crowds gathering on the streets of London on Saturday night.

In scenes reminiscent of Super Saturday, when lockdown restrictions were eased in July, the streets were packed with people dancing, hugging and singing with few maintaining social distancing.

There has been growing concern in the UK about the sharp rise in cases in the past few weeks and Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the tightening of restrictions following a surge in infections in young people.

But the government warnings are continuing to go unheeded with pictures from Leicester Square in central London showing people in large groups enjoying the city’s nightlife.

Saturday night's behaviour also reflected a poll by ORB International which found that many young people are failing to follow Government guidelines on social distancing, with one in five (22 per cent) of 18- to 24-year-olds admitting that they are failing to distance from friends and family outside their households.

Overall, 11 per cent of people said they were not - for the most part - still following the rules.

One in five (21 per cent) of respondents agreed that gathering with friends and family outside their households was no longer a risk to their health, rising to one in three of those aged between 18 and 34.

The findings come after Matt Hancock urged young people not to "infect their grandparents" by failing to observe the rules amid a significant increase in infections.

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