British Nationals stuck in India say their plight is becoming 'desperate' as some claim they have faced police brutality while attempting to get food and medical supplies, amid a coronavirus lock down in the country.

Reece Hall, 24, a ground worker from Cornwall, fell victim to a mugging and serious assault on February 26 in Titos Lane, north Goa, leaving him with a fractured jaw, eye socket and a leg injury, which has now become severely infected.

Unable to leave his accommodation for regular treatment due hostility towards tourists and strict government lock down measures, in place since Wednesday, Mr Hall's open leg wound, which was caused when three muggers pushed him from his bike, is now badly inflamed.

Reece Hall, 24, from Cornwall, fell victim to a mugging and serious assault on February 26 in north Goa, leaving him with a fractured jaw, eye socket and leg injury, now severely infected

Mr Hall said: 'I’ve been avoid going outside ever since seeing videos of people getting beaten up and hearing stories from foreigners who have been beaten, (...) my leg is not looking good at the moment'.

'I'm desperate to get a plane ticket home but it’s gone past the point of trying to get one now as they are all cancelled, all we can do is contact government officials. I'm surviving off one meal of rice a day.'

As all flights from the country have been grounded until April 12, thousands of British Nationals left stranded across India are now relying on the UK government to put in place repatriation flights - which have so far been limited and fully booked within minutes of being announced.

British Nationals have been advised by the Foreign and Commonwealth office to comply with local rules during lock down, with talks of quarantine areas to be set up for foreign nationals.

Mr Hall's open leg wound, caused when three muggers pushed him from his bike, is now badly in need of treatment

A 21-day lock down was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday causing the immediate closure of shops, restaurants and many hotels.

Heidi Hawkins, 49, a carer from West Sussex stuck in south Goa, said: 'The supermarket was rumoured to be open and it was heaving, no social distancing, every man for himself. The police just came along and started smacking people with their sticks. So people are too scared to go out for food. When you hear of a shop that's open you're too scared to go there because of the police brutality. We just need food and water and we've been left with no information.

'I went to the police station in Colva to ask for information and the police threatened to put me behind bars. I was laughed at and ridiculed.'

'At home i've got my 22-year-old daughter who is highly anxious alone with her eight-week-old baby, her four-year-old daughter and my 19-year-old disabled daughter. She's been stuck inside without food. While my 19-year-son, who is severely disabled is in an assisted living house and he is desperately homesick and doesn't understand. I am desperate to get to him and take him home. I need to get home for my babies, they need their mum.'

British National, Lyn Davis, 60, who is also stuck in Goa and has been visiting the region for almost 20 years, claims she was assaulted by police in the area with a bamboo baton for leaving her hotel to collect medication she had ordered the day before.

Heidi Hawkins, 49, a carer from West Sussex (pictured with her grandchild) is stuck in south Goa and said she is afraid to go out for food due to police brutality

Ms Hawkins in Goa before the lock down, she is now unable to source food and said she has had no contact from the Foreign Office

Mrs Davis said: 'Went to the chemists in Candolim this morning (...) police were very aggressive at Calangute roundabout. We tried explaining that we had ordered medication but the police woman hit me hard on the bottom with her stick, had my phone in my hand and told her that was assault.

'They carried on shouting and waved us through, also as we were coming up to them you could see her getting ready swinging her stick around. I've been coming to India for nearly 20 years, do I want to come back? Not so sure now.'

Jay Vernon a yoga teacher from Brighton is currently stuck in Varkala, Kerala. He said he is yet to hear back from the Foreign Office

Jay Vernon a yoga teacher from Brighton is currently stuck in Varkala, Kerala, after having two flights he had booked cancelled and no response from the British Embassy.

Mr Vernon said: 'My two flights have been cancelled and no one has yet to reply from the Embassy. Locals are not wanting to associate with me because I'm from Europe. I still can't understand why the Indian government doesn't allow us to leave and their own citizens back in the country.'

Since the 21-day lock down was announced on Wednesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi thousands of people, mostly young male day labourers but also families, fled their New Delhi homes as the measure effectively put millions of Indians who live off daily earnings out of work.

Migrant workers and their family members lineup outsdie the Anand Vihar bus terminal, New Delhi, today to leave for their villages during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown

Indian migrant workers, daily wagers, laborers and homeless people wait for food outside a government-run shelter as a nationwide lockdown continues, March 28

Construction projects, taxi services, housekeeping and other informal sector employment came to a sudden halt.

Mr Modi said the extreme measure was needed to halt the spread of Covid-19 in India, which has confirmed 775 cases and 19 deaths, and where millions live in cramped conditions without regular access to clean water.

India's finance ministry announced a 1.7 trillion (£18 billion) economic stimulus package that will include delivering grains and lentil rations for three months to 800 million people, around 60% of the world's second-most populous country.

But thousands of India's most vulnerable, who fear dying not of the disease caused by the new virus but rather of starvation, have decided not to wait.

Mainly labourers who are stranded on the border districts travel in a bus at the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh boarder near New Delhi, 28 March