Councillor arrested after police mistake him for suspect

 A councillor who sits on a police and crime panel was reporting a crime at his local station when he was arrested after being wrongly identified.

Councillor Afzal Shah, who represents the ward of Easton, Bristol was trying to make a statement when officers at Trinity Road police station mistook him for a suspect wanted for making threats of violence.

The Labour councillor questioned whether any other members of the regional crime panel would have been treated in a similar way.

“I went to the police station to register a crime on behalf of someone else,” he said. “The member of staff on the front desk was very dismissive and had that member of staff not been like that, then none of this would have happened. I was told it was a misunderstanding, and that the person who they were looking for looked like me.”

Senior police chiefs have already offered “profuse apologies” to Mr Shah, who is now seeking legal advice.

Avon and Somerset Police said it welcomed the opportunity to apologise publicly.