Actress blames takeaway pints are behind England's third lockdown

Watch: Elizabeth Olsen comments on lockdown in England

US actor Elizabeth Olsen is currently living in London over the third lockdown for England but she reckons new rules have come in primarily to curb people mixing outside with alcohol.

The actor, who has featured as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in multiple films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday while speaking from London.

She told the host it was the second lockdown she'd experienced in three months in the nation's capital before Kimmel asked her what a lockdown looked like over the pond.

"I think what it really means is that people can't buy alcohol from pubs and walk around and socialise because no one's really listening to anything anyway here.

"People just don't wear masks outside and anywhere that people can gather with a takeaway pint they do and so I think they're just taking away the liquor and everything else is more or less the same of not being able to mix with other households," she said.

Kimmel went on to ask if she had seen people "gathering and celebrating" New Year's Eve the previous week.

"Yeah, the parks in the morning when you go on a walk all the trash bins are just overflowing with poppers and alcohol," Olsen replied.

England's third national lockdown legally came into force on Wednesday, replacing the tier system, as citizens have been instructed to stay at home while schools have also closed to most pupils.

On Tuesday, figures from the Office of National Statistics suggested one in 50 people in England have the virus, rising to one in 30 in London.

Pubs were not able to open in tiers three and four, however, some establishments did offer takeaways. Alcoholic beverages are now only able to be delivered from pubs and restaurants, with takeaway options scrapped.

Watch: What you can and can't do during England's third national lockdown