Almost 4,000 fines were issued to people not wearing face coverings on public transport in London, figures show.

Mandatory wearing of masks on Transport for London (TFL) services was put in place to help stop the spread of Covid-19 and the Omicron variant. It ended on February 24 this year.

A total of 3,996 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) were issued to people not complying with the requirement between February 24, 2021 and January 27, 2022, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said. TFL did not record face covering compliance during the final month.

Over the recorded period, TFL prevented 7,283 people from travelling and directed 2,325 people to leave the network.

The data was published after a question directed at the mayor from Labour London Assembly member Krupesh Hirani..

Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “The safety of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) customers and staff is always its top priority.

“A range of measures helped to ensure customers can travel safely and confidently on TfL’s services during the pandemic, including requiring face coverings as a condition of carriage both before and after they were a legal requirement, and continuing to strongly encourage them today.”