Pictures from the Soho district of London show hundreds of people, close to each other, gathered outside the pubs to celebrate that the several-month-long pub stop is now over.

But Britain's Health Minister Matt Hancock says he is still happy with how the relief efforts in the country's shutdown have been handled by residents so far:

"From what I've seen, even though some pictures contradict this, people on the whole have behaved responsibly," he tells Sky News, reports Reuters.

Police: Filling and social distancing do not go together

British police union chairman John Apter, who patrolled in Southampton in southern England, is not as convinced.

"It is crystal clear that full persons cannot or do not want to keep social distance," he writes in a tweet after completing the work session, but adds that the police have been able to handle the situation well.

The opening of pubs so far only applies in England. Scotland and Wales have chosen to ease restrictions at a slower pace.