Complex sentence: Ten days later, 3,000 anti-vivisectionists gathered in Trafalgar Square to demand the return of the statue, but it was clear by then that Battersea Council had turned its back on the whole affair.
Split into simpler sentences: Ten days later, 3,000 anti-vivisectionists gathered in Trafalgar Square to demand the return of the statue, but to no avail. It was clear by then that Battersea Council had turned its back on the whole affair.