First published on Thu 22 Apr 2021 12.17 EDT Four people arrested while staging demonstrations in Bristol are to receive apologies and substantial damages from Avon and Somerset police after the force admitted its declaration of a blanket ban on protest was unlawful. The apologies, which followed a legal challenge, are thought to be the first time a police force has admitted it misapplied coronavirus powers to ban protests. In a statement agreed with the claimants, the police said the arrests had been made on the basis of “a misunderstanding of the legal effect of the regulations” and admitted all four “were unlawfully arrested”.