SURVIVORS of the Manchester Arena bombing were not treated with importance until "they put their hand up" and asked for a formal role at the forthcoming public inquiry, a court has heard.

Lawyers for more than 50 people are bidding to overturn a decision made by inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders not to grant them core participant status at the September hearing

If successful, it would have allowed them through legal representation to obtain disclosure of evidence in advance, challenge evidence and participate in lines of inquiry.

Sir John explained his April ruling "does not mean that the survivors will not have a voice in this inquiry" as he said their evidence would be "important".

However, in an application for a judicial review of the decision, Brenda Campbell QC, on behalf of the group of survivors, told the High Court: "The survivors have not been important or treated with importance at any point until they put their hand up and asked for core participant status."

Salman Abedi detonated a rucksack bomb in the foyer of the arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in 2017, killing 22 bystanders and injuring hundreds more.