Ulster Unionist party leader Sir Reg Empey has called on Secretary of State Peter Hain to visit loyalist areas affected by the recent violence earlier this week.

Speaking following a meeting with Mr Hain on Thursday, Sir Reg said the Secretary of State needed to "get on the ground and get a real taste of what Protestant working class communities are thinking".

“The Secretary of State must get on the ground and engage with the communities, which inexcusably erupted in violence at the weekend," the east Belfast MLA said.

"Mr Hain should have engaged directly with these communities at an earlier stage. He must listen to their concerns and enter into dialogue with opinion formers at a grass roots level. He must understand that the sense of alienation felt by ordinary Unionists is profound."

So far police have made 63 arrests in connection with the trouble which started following Saturday's re-routed Whiterock parade.

Meanwhile, PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has been heckled by loyalists as he turned up for a meeting with the Policing Board on Thursday.

The protesters, who were mainly women, shouted "shame" in response at the way police handled three days of disorder which followed the parade.

Elsewhere, loyalists have continued to cause disruption in Belfast after a car was hijacked and set on fire on the Crumlin Road on Thursday afternoon. Earlier a lorry was set alight on the nearby Ballygomartin Road.

Translink, meanwhile, has suspended bus services to Springmartin and Glencairn because of the trouble. Buses to Ligoniel and Silverstream have also been diverted.

(MB/SP)