Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to take the government's social distancing advice seriously as he introduced new measures to protect the most vulnerable.

The NHS identified 1.5 million people with serious underlying health conditions who are most at-risk of catching the coronavirus.

Letters will be sent advising that they stay home for 12 weeks.

Mr Johnson said: "This shielding will do more than any other single measure that we are setting out to save lives."

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that a network of local hubs set up around the country would deliver medicines and food to the most vulnerable and lonely people.

Nobody needs to worry about getting the food and essential items that they will need, he said.

These care packages will be left on the doorstep. Community pharmacies, supermarkets, councils and food distributors will work together to make this ambitious new service work.

The products will be free, with the Treasury footing the bill, and people will be able to order supplies over the phone and online. More details will be announced in the near future.

The announcement came as many people across the country continued to flout government advice to stay two metres apart from each other.

The prime minister resisted calls to impose a total lockdown and repeated government advice on social distancing.

Mr Johnson added: I want, of course I do, people to be able to go to the parks, open spaces and enjoy themselves.

"But even if you feel invulnerable, there are plenty of people you could infect.

"My message is you've got to do this in line with the advice, you've got to follow the social distancing rule - keep two metres apart. Take this advice seriously and it's absolutely crucial that you follow it.

"Otherwise if you don't do it responsibly... there is going to be no doubt that we will have to bring forward further measures and we are certainly keeping that under constant review.

"I would like to thank people who are already following the advice.

"The reason we're taking these unprecedented steps...is, of course, that we have to slow the spread of the disease and to save thousands of lives.

"The general principle should be we should all, as far as we possibly can, stay at home, protect our NHS and therefore save lives.

"The more we comply with this, the faster we will beat it."

Responding to questions on the dangers to elderly people leaving their homes, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said that the public had a responsibility to make outside spaces safer by not congregating.

"There is a real balance point here - what we don't want to find is that we grow mental health problems or we grow other physical problems because of such a strict imposition.

"The virus doesn't last well outside for all sorts of reasons around temperature, UV light and everything else so actually an outdoor environment compared with an indoor one is generally a safer one - but the difficulty is if people are congregating outside or coming together."

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CORONAVIRUS: Hubs will deliver food and medicine to vulnerable - Swindon Advertiser