This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

A number of police forces have reported that the public are following instructions to stay at home and avoid travelling far, despite the temptations of warm Easter weather across Britain.

Devon and Cornwall police posted a series of photographs of beautiful and deserted beaches that would usually be crowded in such good weather.

Richmond Park, which a fortnight ago was attracting crowds of people on a sunny Sunday, was largely empty on both Saturday and Sunday, judging by photographs posted by local police.

Quick guide UK lockdown: what are the coronavirus restrictions? Show Hide What do the restrictions involve? People in the UK will only be allowed to leave their home for the following purposes: Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

One form of exercise a day – for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household

Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person

Travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home Police will have the powers to enforce the rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings. To ensure compliance with the instruction to stay at home, the government will: Close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship

Stop all gatherings of more than two people in public – excluding people you live with

Stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals Parks will remain open for exercise, but gatherings will be dispersed.

Surrey police also posted “a huge thank-you to everyone in Surrey who has listened and is following government advice this bank holiday weekend to #StayHome despite the good weather”.

There were photographs of near-empty beaches in seaside resorts including Scarborough and Brighton, with people clearly staying away despite the sunshine.

On Saturday, Sussex police tweeted: “Thanks to everyone who has again today played their part in helping us save lives. In the main, beaches, parks, beauty spots and green spaces are quieter. Even the seagulls are social distancing, though we strongly suspect they are missing people and their chips.”

The Peak District national park stayed “largely quiet” on Saturday, according to officials, and photographs posted on social media suggested the same on Sunday.

It was a similar situation at Victoria Park in east London, which reopened on Saturday after a controversial two-week closure. Local Bow West police tweeted a photograph of the park with few people in it: “Patrols around #VictoriaPark today. Lovely to see people #SocialDistancing.”

The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, on Sunday thanked the public for “rising to the challenge”.

Data from a health app that asks users about their movements also suggested that people were taking social distancing measures more seriously than before. The Evergreen Life app said it had data based on almost 75,000 responses about how its users were responding to government advice.

In Middlesbrough, which last weekend was the area on the app where people appeared to be flouting the stay-at-home rules, the number of respondents who admitted they were not complying dropped from 25% to 13%.

Non-compliance with social distancing also fell in Hertfordshire, from 18% to 9%, and in Burnley, from 18% to 14%.

Evergreen Life’s chief executive officer, Stephen Critchlow, said: “We can see that Evergreen Life users, who get regular nudges to remind them of the benefits of staying at home, are generally following government guidelines, and those that were not have improved dramatically.”