People shop at an open air market which has reopened in Nice, France, May 12, 2020. France's death toll from the coronavirus reached 26,991 on Tuesday, overtaking Spain's 26,920 as it recorded 348 more deaths in the last 24 hours. France thus became the world's fourth worst-hit country in terms of deaths after the United States, Britain and Italy, data from the Health Ministry showed. (Photo by Serge Haouzi/Xinhua)

A number of people in England who cannot work from home returned to their workplaces on Wednesday, as the government has begun to ease lockdown restrictions.

Although people have been urged to avoid using public transport if possible, some commuters have said buses and trains are too busy to observe social distancing rules, as reported by the BBC.

One commuter said most people were not wearing masks, leaving him fearing "a second wave of infection".

Tube workers said it was a "complete shambles" when part of the Victoria Line was suspended due to a passenger collapsing.

"Social distancing during the peak was a joke. During the suspension our carriages were heaving. It will get worse," said one worker.

Mick Cash, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said: "This incident shows just how fraught with danger the government's return-to-work call is for our transport services in the midst of this pandemic. One incident and we are reduced to crisis management with reports that social distancing is impossible with tube carriages rammed".

"RMT warned this would happen and we were ignored. We are monitoring the situation across services this morning and will discuss any appropriate action with our local reps", Cash added.

Some buses in the capital were also reported to be busier than normal following the prime minister's message that people should return to work if possible from Wednesday.

"Any notion of self-distancing on buses or tubes is going to be impossible," said Drew Aspland, cited in the BBC.

The 36-year-old walked to work in central London from Bethnal Green after seeing his bus "back to pre-lockdown levels of passengers".

Transport for London said on Monday that it would have to reduce passenger numbers to 13-15% of normal levels if it were to achieve physical distancing of two metres.

On Monday afternoon, the UK government released a 50-page document that outlines the planned timetable for lifting national Covid-19 restrictions.

The government's 'indicative roadmap' has three steps.

The first step of this plan is to actively encourage people who cannot work from home to return to work from this Wednesday.

The second step, which will potentially begin from 1 June will see some schools and businesses begin to re-open. Some sporting and cultural events will be allowed to take place behind closed doors.

The third step which will start no earlier than 4 July will see some remaining businesses including hairdressers, cinemas and pubs re-open.