Dozens of animal rights activists remain in police custody following mass disruption of yesterday's Grand National festival.
Activist group Animal Rising said that 68 of 118 people arrested yesterday remain in custody, however, nobody has been charged "at this time".
Some 42 arrested protesters were let go yesterday without being taken into custody, and a further five were taken in but have since been released, they added.
READ MORE: RSPCA calls for urgent review into Grand National horse deaths
Scores of activists gathered at Aintree with the aim of putting a halt to the famous race. At around 5pm, a group of protesters from Animal Rising breached security fences as National runners were in the parade ring, causing a delay of 12 minutes as at least two people attached themselves to a jump on the course using glue and lock-on devices.
Meanwhile, other protesters moved onto the northbound carriageway of the M57, causing long delays in both directions as traffic was diverted around them.
The group said its aim was to prevent potential horse deaths. Three racehorses died in this year's races, starting with Envoye Special, who suffered a fall in the Foxhunters Chase on Thursday. Dark Raven was the second fatality after falling in the Mersey Novices' Hurdle yesterday, and Hill Sixteen suffered a broken neck at the first fence in the flagship Grand National.
The feature race was won by bookies favourite Corach Rambler, trained by Lucinda Russell and ridden by Derek Fox.
A spokesman for Animal Rising said: “The actions taken at Aintree yesterday aimed to prevent harm from coming to horses in The Grand National, with Hill Sixteen sadly falling in the race itself - a death that would’ve been prevented if the race had not been run. Supporters of Animal Rising do not take the risk of arrest lightly, but taking action to protect animals and nature is more important than upholding business-as-usual.
“This is just the start of many peaceful actions to really create a national conversation about our fractured connection with animals and our natural world this summer, whether they result in arrests or not.”
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