There was unexpected crowding in the courts yesterday morning due to “an unexpected emergency application”, a Courts Service spokesperson said.

The application disrupted existing arrangements designed to reduce the number of people in court during the coronavirus pandemic and led to “an unforeseen gathering of people near the court”.

The Courts Service has said it has taken a number of measures to ensure this won’t reoccur and will be in touch with “the relevant organisations” regarding how to further reduce numbers in court.

The spokesperson added: “We are appreciative of everyone’s cooperation as we work to maintain our high successes in social distancing to date, and in improving in areas we have not achieved the optimum results yet.”