Police have stopped 30,000 people on public transport for not wearing a face covering in just two weeks, but only dished out 33 fines, official figures reveal.
British Transport Police (BTP) figures show about a fifth (1,605) of the 28,964 people spoken to by officers in mid-July were told to leave the transport for not covering their face.
But just 33 of those stopped from July 13 to 25 were given a fine of £100, according to information obtained by the Telegraph through a Freedom of Information request.
And two people were arrested for not giving out details to the police when asked, but were de-arrested when they gave this information.
Meanwhile, Transport for London (TfL) workers have stopped almost 54,000 people for not wearing face masks since July 4 and given 244 people the £100 fine.
Nearly 4,000 of those stopped were prevented from boarding buses and 1,000 more were booted off services.
Wearing face coverings on public transport has been mandatory since June 15, to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Grant Shapps announced the policy on June 4 and said: "A face covering helps protect out fellow passengers, it's something that we can each do to help each other."
When the policy was announced in June more than 44 TfL staff members had died with coronavirus.
A spokesperson for the British Transport Police said in response to the figures: "The overwhelming majority of people have listened, complied and continued to play an important role in protecting other passengers and rail staff.''
Commenting on the London figures, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the Telegraph: "Londoners have shown that they want to do the right thing and the vast majority of people using public transport are wearing a face covering to keep themselves and others safe.
"To an extent, we're reliant on people taking steps to protect themselves and others."
