Police officers under investigation for their roles during the 2017 Catalan referendum who testified today before an investigating court in Barcelona contradicted the story of that day as presented so far. Previously, the court's version, as told by senior officials Diego Pérez de los Cobos and José Antonio Nieto, was that no order to act had been given.

The four chief inspectors who have testified today said that they did receive orders to use active measures. Specifically, they told the judge that the chief commissioner of the anti-riot unit, code-named "Marte" (Mars), told them to act at polling stations at 8am.

The four, who only replied to questions from the judge, public prosecutors, the state's legal service and their own lawyers, not those from private prosecutors, explained that one or two days before the 1st October 2017, voting day, there was a briefing in which they were told they would get an order to act if Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra didn't once the polling stations opened.

Lawyers for the private prosecutions, which include Barcelona city council and the civil rights organisation Irídia, believe that "Marte" is José Miguel Ruiz Iguzquiza, head of the Police Intervention Unit. He was responsible for giving the order to withdraw around lunchtime.

They all testified the order was to act with proportionality, coherence, as needed and using progressive force and that these were the orders they passed on to their subordinates.

In total there are eight group chiefs, of whom four appeared in court today, and 50 officers under investigation by the court for actions in and around Barcelona that day.

Today's hearings also revealed that not all the image of the events in 2017 are in the possession of the courts. There remain images among those requested which the police haven't handed over, a circumstance described by lawyers as "very serious".