'We will send police. With flamethrowers': Italy's mayors rage at residents ignoring coronavirus lockdown

‘You aren’t Will Smith in I Am Legend,’ says Giuseppe Falcomatà

Italian mayors have lashed out at citizens breaking lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic.

Exasperated politicians have criticised people for carrying on with normal activities – such as getting a haircut or playing table tennis – while the country has ordered them to stay at home to fight the Covid-19 outbreak.

Videos shared on social media show enraged mayors telling off residents for flouting these rules, often using inventive ways to get their message across.

“Bringing a mobile hairdresser to your house?” said Antonio Tutolo from Lucera in Apulia, speaking with a face mask hanging from his chin.

“What the f*** is that for?”

Giuseppe Falcomatà, the mayor of Reggio Calabria, said he had seen someone jogging up and down a road with a tired-looking dog.

“I stopped him and said: ‘Look, this isn’t a movie. You aren’t Will Smith in I Am Legend’.”

Italians have been ordered to stay at home unless it is for work, medical reasons or emergencies.

Some regions have even moved to ban outdoor exercise, which national measures allow if done near home.

However, the mayor of Delia in Sicily had some strong words for people who have taken to jogging outside during the pandemic.

“In this town, there are about 20 runners,” Gianfilippo Bancheri said. “Now, you’re all marathon runners!”

“If the last time you did a bit of running was for your school cross-country, where are you going to run?”

One politician had a veiled threat for those planning parties for their graduation.

“We will send the police over,” Vincenzo De Luca, the president of Campania, said. “We will send flamethrowers.”

Another mayor was captured ordering a ping-pong players to go home.

Italy has imposed strict measures to try and slow down its rising number of coronavirus cases which stood at more than 63,000 on Tuesday, according to official figures.

Around 6,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the country – more than anywhere else in the world.

More than 100,000 people have been caught breaking lockdown rules in Italy to date, according to interior ministry figures.