A tube passenger got around tough rules restricting people from removing facemasks in order to eat on public transport by putting a huge plastic bag over her head.

The bizarre video was shot by another passenger identified only by his surname Wang, and it was filmed on the subway in the Chinese city of Wuhan located in Hubei province.

He said at first he wondered what was going on and whether it was something to do with Halloween as it happened around the same time, but then he saw the woman inside the bag eating a banana and realised she was trying to avoid breaching the COVID restrictions.

Speaking about the video he said: “There are restrictions because of coronavirus outbreaks, but nevertheless even during an outbreak it seemed a bit extreme for the woman to go to this length to have a snack.”

He added that it was clear what the motivation was, because it would have been otherwise impossible to eat inside the subway train with a face mask in place.

He said: “She managed to keep herself separate from others by simply putting the plastic bag over her head.”

The woman is seen scoffing the banana before placing the peel into another small plastic bag that she had bought with her.

Although Wang said he felt it was strange and worth taking a video to share online, other passengers seem unperturbed, with two men sitting beside her on the left happily playing away on their phones, and a man on the other side looking like he was taking a nap.

After the video went viral, a spokesman for the city’s Metro said: “We would like to remind people that eating on trains in Wuhan like in other Chinese cities is not allowed. We urge anybody who spots something like this to call our hotline and staff will attend to the matter.”