Boris Johnson said the marshals will support councils to "help ensure social distancing in town and city centres" to stop the spread of coronavirus, along with environmental health officers.
But the idea has been widely mocked, with critics deriding them as sounding like the "worst sort of busybodies".Welwyn Hatfield MP Shapps said street wardens, who already patrol neighbourhoods to support the police, could carry out the role.Defending the policy, he said: "People actually genuinely just want to do the right thing."In my area, we have people called street wardens who are marshals on the street."They typically look after the neighbourhood particularly in the town centres and that sort of thing."He went on: "They would be ideal people to be.