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Catholic families living in a newly developed shared neighbourhood have been ordered to get out of their homes under sectarian threat.

They have presented themselves to the Housing Executive as homeless.

The residents who live in Cantrell Close off Ravenhill Rd, were visited by police on Tuesday around midnight and issued with advice about the threat, believed to be from loyalist paramilitaries.

The close, with Global Cresent, has been part of the government strategy aimed at unifying communities in mixed housing areas.

Under the title of ‘Together: Building a United Community’, the £13million project was seen as a commitment to building a "united and reconciled society".

And it was hoped these areas would act as an example to others across Northern Ireland.

But now Protestant families in the area face losing their Catholic neighbours due to the threat of violence.

Catholic residents were told by PSNI officers that a warning had been issued to them stating they were not welcome in the area due to their religion.

The threat also stated that if they did not leave the area they would be under threat of violence.

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "I live in Cantrell Close, East Belfast and my my street is supposed to be part of a community project to bring religions together.

"I had been waiting for three years for a house and was sceptical about taking a housing association house in a Protestant area as I'm Catholic.

"But I was assured everything would be fine. We had Emma Pengelly call in the summer to reassure us about the area.

"However last night after midnight, police came to my door and all the other Catholic residents in Cantrell Close and said they'd received a threat saying that my family was no longer welcome in Cantrell Close due to my perceived religion.

"It also stated that if I didn't move the residents and their homes would be under threat of violence. It's disgusting. I have children and now I'm worried about their safety."

The shared neighbourhood development was built by Fold Housing, now known as Radius Housing, and opened in 2015.

In June the area came under scrutiny when UVF and other loyalist flags were put up in the Global Crescent and Cantrell Close ‘shared neighbourhoods'.

Both developments are located close to Ravenhill Avenue and the loyalist Woodstock Road areas.

It is understood that two flags had been hung from the majority of lampposts in the area.

A local resident said at the time that he feared the UVF was attempting to "stamp their authority" in the area.

He added: "Our community is made up of Protestant, Catholic, others and none."

A Housing Executive spokesperson said: "A number of families in the South Belfast area have presented to us as homeless today claiming sectarian intimidation.”

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: " We do not discuss the security of individuals. However, if we receive information that a person’s life may be at risk we will inform them accordingly. We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk. No inference should be drawn from this."