Up to 20,000 service personnel will be put on standby to help support the effort against the Coronavirus in the coming weeks and months.

The personnel have been put on standby as they prepare to support efforts to reduce the impact of COVID-19, by supporting the police, helping to increase hospital capacity and even drive oxygen tankers.

As a result, Bucks residents may soon see an increased military presence on the streets of the county as the pandemic tightens it's grip on the county.

However, deploying thousands of military personnel to assist with the coronavirus pandemic is "risky", according to one defence expert. 

Elizabeth Braw, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said: "With something like this, it is not exactly clear how the armed forces can support and more importantly we have to consider that they may be needed elsewhere," Ms Braw told the PA news agency.

"We can't take for granted that we will only have a virus outbreak. What if there is another contingency, and I think that is the danger in relying on the armed forces.

"To always assume that they will always be available to help with these kinds of duties that are not their speciality and are essentially a distraction from their speciality is risky."

Armed forces minister James Heappey downplayed the severity of troops' involvement, after a video appearing to show several vehicles transporting tanks along a motorway raised speculation online.

"This is when social media is at its most ridiculous," he wrote on Twitter.

"We've got plans for offering all sorts of support during the Coronavirus outbreak. But absolutely none of them, not even one, involve tanks!"