An Egyptian Court has issued preliminary death sentences to 185 people for an attack on a police station.

The ruling, which is pending approval from Egypt's most senior religious official, will face a lengthy appeals process.

Those sentenced were allegedly involved in what an unnamed judicial source described as a "massacre" - which killed 11 policemen in August 2013.

On the same day, hundreds of protesters died after their protest camps were brutally cleared by security forces.

They had been rallying in support of Mohammed Morsi, who had been ousted as president. It was considered one of the bloodiest incidents to hit Egypt in modern history.

The judge's decision comes days after another court dropped murder charges against another former president, Hosni Mubarak.

Widespread protests against the verdict have been taking place in Tahrir Square. Water cannon and tear gas have been used by security forces in an attempt to disperse the crowds.

This is the latest in a series of mass execution orders by the Egyptian courts. Amnesty International has said this tactic of mass execution is “alarming evidence of the Egyptian judiciary’s increasingly politicised and arbitrary attitude towards justice and the death penalty.”