Social Media Image showing a PSNI officer holding a Ladder for a man raising a flag on the Falls road in Belfast.

The PSNI has denied helping erect an Irish Tricolour in west Belfast instead saying an officer only stepped in for safety reasons.

During windy conditions, a police officer used his foot to keep a ladder upright against a wall of McEnaney's bar on the Glen Road while a man put up a tricolour on Sunday for an Easter Rising parade, The Irish News reported.

A senior police officer said it was "quite right" the cop stepped in to ensure the safety of the man as he placed the flag.

Superintendent Paula Hilman said: “On Sunday, March 27, 2016 police officers in west Belfast were involved in the policing operation around the commemoration of the Easter Rising.

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"The weather conditions were blustery and an officer on duty at the Glen Road observed that a ladder which was positioned against a building was starting to move in the wind.

"The officer quite rightly put his foot against the bottom rung of the ladder to steady it and prevent the man using the ladder from being hurt.”

Belfast Telegraph