London: Around 14 people have been arrested in Bristol, England, after anti-lockdown protesters defied police orders to cancel their demonstration.
Local police said about 400 people gathered on College Green at mid-day on Saturday before marching through the city center in protest of the lockdown measures, Xinhua news agency quoted the London-based Evening Standard newspaper as saying in a report on Sunday.
The protest went ahead in defiance of the lockdown restrictions in England, the month-long social curbs starting November 5, which bans gatherings of more than two people.
Warning the event was unlawful in advance, local police said several people were identified as leaders of the protest and were arrested.
Most arrests were for breaches of the coronavirus regulations, with one man also arrested for assaulting a police officer, local police said.
By law, anyone organizing or facilitating a gathering of more than 30 people is liable to a fixed penalty notice of 10,000 pounds, while those participating in a gathering of more than two people can be fined 200 pounds.
England’s lockdown, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in the country, is expected to end on December 2.
Another 26,860 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,344,356.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 462 to 51,766, the data showed.
Britain is the first European nation to record more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths.
It is the fifth country in the world to hit the tragic milestone, following the US, Brazil, India and Mexico.
