SHOPPERS in Barrow have overwhelmingly complied with the Government mandate to re-instate masks in shops.

We visited three supermarkets - Morrisons, Tesco and Asda - in Barrow to gauge how many people had taken up the mandate.

At each, we spent ten minutes counting people leaving and noting whether they were wearing a mask or not.

In Tesco, the majority of people were wearing a mask but quite a lot were still emerging from the shop mask-less.

In total, 71 people left the shop.

Out of these, 51 were wearing a mask and 20 - around 28% - were not.

Two people who were not wearing a mask both claimed that they had forgotten it.

Stephen Holt, who was leaving the shop wearing a mask, said: "It was my wife that told me I had to wear one.

"I had no idea. It doesn't really affect me either way so I've got one in the car to just stick on."

At the other supermarkets, those leaving with no mask were in single figures.

From Asda, only nine were mask-less out of 68. This means that only 13% of people opted to not wear a mask, where 87% did.

Morrisons fared even better. Out of a total of 52, 47 wore masks and five did not. This means that over 90% of the public were fully masked.

All supermarkets had signs imploring customers to wear masks.

However, none seemed to be enforcing any behaviour. 

There were no staff on the doors apart from regular security in any of the supermarkets.

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said: "In line with other police forces and the approach Cumbria Constabulary has taken throughout the pandemic, we will be taking a Four Es approach.

"Cumbria Police will seek to increase officer visibility in high risk and crowded areas, such as towns and shopping centres. If officers encounter individuals not wearing a face covering on public transport or in shops, they will engage with them, explain the risks and encourage them to comply with the new rules.

"In line with national policing guidance, our officers will continue to enforce Coronavirus Regulations where it is necessary to do so. We will support transport and retail staff in ensuring people wear face coverings in line with the regulations.

"We will work closely with businesses and will respond to incidents where individuals are violent or abusive towards staff or members of the public."