Londonderry: Parachute Regiment flags banned from parade stalls

Parachute Regiment flags were sold at a stall on the route of the Apprentice Boys parade last year

The sale of Parachute Regiment flags at next month's Apprentice Boys' parade in Londonderry has been banned.

It comes after a row erupted at the same event last year, when it emerged that the flags were being sold at a stall on the route of the parade.

A report before Derry and Strabane District Council on Wednesday noted "sensitivities" surrounding the flags.

Soldiers from the regiment shot dead 13 people in Derry on Bloody Sunday on 30 January 1972.

The motion before a council committee last week discussed new criteria for granting temporary licences for the Relief of Londonderry event.

It stated stallholders would not be granted a licence unless they agreed not to sell flags or emblems of the regiment.

It also said council officers would not grant a licence to anyone who intends to sell or display flags in support of paramilitary organisations.

It is illegal to sell flags in support of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland.

Last year, at least one stallholder sold flags in support of the Ulster Volunteer Force.

A number of flags were also seized by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the Waterside area of the city.

The annual Apprentice Boys' parade is due to take place on 12 August.