In a breathtaking turn of events, protests planned against tomorrow’s G20 summit have been cancelled, with organisers admitting that the the whole thing was an April Fool’s joke which had “simply got out of hand”.

The anti-capitalist anarchy group G20 Meltdown released an official statement revealing that their original intention had been to organise a small-scale family picnic on the day of the G20 for the benefit of London orphans.

The change in direction and emphasis occurred when a member noticed that the G20 summit would take place on April 2nd, and thought it would be amusing to re-invent the event as a protest. “I thought it’d be a riot!” he said enthusiastically, “but I think I may have been misunderstood”.

“To be honest, we never really expected anyone to take us seriously,” said another a member of G20 Meltdown, who wished to remain anonymous. “The whole thing just got out of hand and grew a life of its own”.

He went on to express amazement at the power of the internet as a campaigning tool. “I heard someone made a Facebook Group about it, and that the protest was trending on Twitter” he said, “It’s amazing what people can achieve nowadays. I remember when a protest was something that you had to organise“.

Adding that it was a shame that the orphans wouldn’t be getting their picnic, he also apologised to any who had made plans to attend the rally. There had been worries that violence might break out at the protests, but police have now confirmed that they no longer envision a threat.

According to the group, the name ‘G20 Meltdown’ came about in honour of a pizza one of the group’s members had created to honour the day on which President Barack Obama visited London for talks. Toppings included three different types of cheese, pepperoni, ham, tandoori chicken and chillies.

A special vegan version was also created due to the dietary requirements of 95% of the group’s membership. This is rumoured to have included olives.

G20 Meltdown’s official statement also sought to address allegations that they wished harm to investment bankers and hedge fund managers. “The bankers aren’t the enemy really – most of them do a great job under a lot of pressure.”

“They deserve their bonuses.”