The RUC has denied that the closure of its office in Belfast's Castlecourt shopping complex yesterday was the result of vociferous republican picketers who had been protesting outside the shop since it was opened before Christmas.
Sinn Fein had planned another picket of the office at lunchtime yesterday. Welcoming the closure announcement, Ms Chrissie McAuley, a Sinn Fein Belfast city councillor, said: "The opening of this office was essentially a PR gimmick which has clearly backfired on the RUC. The brutal response by the RUC to our pickets has also highlighted the unacceptability and unsuitability of that force as a police service."
In a statement, the RUC denied that the office's closure was a result of Sinn Fein pickets. It said that the post was being closed "on schedule" and could reopen at a later date. While the post had initially attracted protests by "a small number of activists" this was "more than off-set by the large number of messages of support and good will received from the general public," the statement continued.