Police in riot gear were called to separate rival groups on Portadown's Garvaghy Road last night as loyalists staged a fifth successive night of street protests in the Co Armagh town.
The trouble began on the Lower Garvaghy Road close to the Protestant enclaves of Park Road and Whitten Close. Some 100 loyalists had been erecting Union Jacks, Ulster flags and the new Drumcree flag in the areas when they were confronted by nationalists from the nearby Garvaghy Road estates.
As tension grew, the RUC managed to separate the rival groups. Following intervention by local politicians on both sides, the protesters dispersed.