Wearing a face mask or face covering in shops and supermarkets is now mandatory – and shoppers appear to be following new rules compared to some hesitancy just a week ago.

Starting from today (July 24), shoppers who fail to comply with the new rules could face a fine of up to £100.

Last week I went to visit various stores around town to see if shoppers were already practicing general safety and the new rules – only to find that 75 per cent of shoppers surveyed were not wearing masks.

However today, we found the complete opposite as shoppers did indeed follow government rulings to wear a form of face coverings in these public indoor settings.

In fact, out of the total of 269 people observed in various stores, just nine shoppers were seen without masks – with some of them being exempt from the rules due to age.

This means just 3.35 per cent of shoppers were not wearing masks in these findings.

I first visited Super Drug in the town centre, the store was quite empty with five shoppers – and all of them were wearing masks.

Some staff were not wearing masks, but according to the government rules they do not have to.

In comparison to last week, there were also five customers but none of them were wearing masks.

At Wilko there were 45 shoppers counted and all were wearing masks minus a young child – but children under 11 are exempt from face mask rules.

In H&M out of around 60 shoppers, just one woman had a mask hanging from her ear. There were also two children without masks – which is again allowed.

Here is a roundup of other findings today:

• Next - 11 shoppers and just one child without a face mask

• Sports Direct - 50 shoppers all wearing masks. The three people seen without masks were staff (and they were not counted in the shopper total).

• In River Island, there were 10 shoppers, one man without a mask.

• In Apple there were 33 people seen in the store, all with masks. Temperature checks were also being conducted at the door before entry.

Most interestingly were my findings at Sainsbury’s, one of the UK supermarkets that clarified they will not enforce face mask rules.

Despite the supermarket not cracking down on people flouting face covering rules, out of around 55 shoppers, four were seen without masks.

This included a person who appeared to be in their 20s, two middle aged people and someone appearing to be above 60.

While Sainsbury’s was where most people neglecting the rules were recorded, the majority of shoppers were still protected.