JUDGES have frozen dozens of arms deals between Britain and Saudi Arabia despite a last-ditch attempt by Whitehall lawyers to push through the weapon sales.

A ruling by the court of appeal means the 57 arms sales applications that were under consideration on June 20 can only resume once ministers investigate whether British bombs have been dropped on civilians in Yemen.

The verdict reinforces an earlier decision made by the same court in June, which found the government had acted “irrationally” and “unlawfully” in allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia without conducting a risk assessment.