The attack on the Miami Showband in 1975 was carried out as the band were travelling in their tour bus

Military chiefs defending a legal action over alleged collusion with loyalist terrorists behind the Miami Showband massacre have claimed that any documents on the soldiers involved have been destroyed, a lawyer said yesterday.

The solicitor representing survivors and relatives of murdered group members said he had been told that material on vetting and training Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) recruits linked to the atrocity would have been scrapped more than a decade ago — if it existed.

Michael Flanigan also confirmed that the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are seeking to stop the disclosure of some intelligence files on public interest immunity grounds.

Victims of the terrorist attack are suing both the MoD and PSNI over alleged collaboration between