An Ulster loyalist anti-IRA campaigner drowned on Monday evening after trying to remove two Irish tricolours from an island on a pond in south Armagh.

Victims' group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (Fair) have confirmed that one of its members Ozzy Bradley died in Bessbrook pond.

He had been trying to remove the two Irish flags from the island in the religiously mixed village near the border with the Republic.

Willie Frazer, Fair's founder, said: "Ozzy, who worked tirelessly for victims in the area, attempted to remove two Irish tricolours from an island in the town's pond. The two Irish tricolours had been reported and indeed they should have been removed but were not.

"Regrettably Ozzy was then forced into taking matters into his own hands and tragically died as a consequence."

The presence of the Irish emblems had caused controversy in the village that used to be home to the British army's main helicopter base in south Armagh during the Troubles. At one time Bessbrook was the largest heliport in Europe due to daily military traffic.

Among others who called for the flags to be removed in the interest of lowering community tension was Sinn Féin.

The two flags were erected last week after someone had replaced the union flag that previously had been flying on top of the small island.

Dominic Bradley, the Bessbrook-born nationalist member for the Northern Ireland Assembly, expressed his condolences to the Bradley family.

Sinn Féin's Mickey Brady also offered his sympathy to the family of the deceased. He said: "The terrible news at the loss of a life at Bessbrook pond is tragic. A family is grieving tonight and a community is in shock."