Brits could be fined up to £3,200 for repeatedly flouting lockdown rules, under new proposals.
The Government is considering raising the penalty for defying social distancing advice to £100 for a first offence, with the amount doubling with each further breach.
Under current rules aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus, police can issue on-the-spot fines of £60 if someone ignores the lockdown.
But under a toughening of measures, this amount would nearly double, rising to £200 for a second offence and increasing with each further violation to a maximum of £3,200 for a sixth offence.
Anyone who refuses to pay may be jailed, the Sunday Telegraph reported. A senior government source did not deny the figures were under proposal.
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As the UK's coronavirus case numbers pass their peak, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to reveal a "roadmap" for how the country will gradually get back to work and school.
While it is hoped that some social distancing measures can be relaxed from May 26, others are expected to be tightened in an effort to stifle the number of new Covid-19 infections.
The Government says it is vital to avoid a catastrophic second wave of cases - and that it is crucial to keep the 'R' rate of people a patient goes on to infect under 1.
It comes after police handed out more than 9,000 fines to people breaching lockdown rules in England and Wales in just four weeks, a rate of one every five minutes.
Of these, 400 were issued to repeat offenders in the four weeks to April 27 - with one fined a shocking six times.
Earlier today, people protesting the coronavirus lockdown were seen hugging in front of the Metropolitan Police's headquarters.
A group of about 20 people gathered outside the central London police station Scotland Yard.
They huddled together while holding their signs, declining to follow government guidelines urging people to stay two metres apart from each other.
Members of the protest can be seen being spoken to by police officers.
Speaking to the Telegraph, 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.
"We will send a clear signal to the small minority of those breaching the rules that they will not get away with it by increasing the starting point for fines to £100."
