Northern Ireland chief constable says loyalist paramilitaries are directing riots in which 96 have been arrested

Individual members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, including some of its local leaders, are directing violence in the ongoing union flag dispute, Northern Ireland's chief constable has said.

Matt Baggott also confirmed that 96 people have been arrested since the protests flared up following Belfast city council's decision in early December to restrict the flying of the union flag at city hall to 17 designated days.

At a press conference at Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) headquarters, the chief constable revealed that children as young as 11 were involved in rioting.

On the role of loyalist paramilitaries in the protests and riots, Baggott said: "I am concerned that senior members of the UVF in east Belfast as individuals have been increasingly orchestrating some of this violence. That is utterly unacceptable and is being done for their own selfish motives. There is no excuse whatsoever for violence, as we've said, and we will be investigating that and taking the appropriate action."

The UVF's so-called East Belfast Battalion has been operating as a semi-independent terror unit for several years and was behind sectarian rioting in the same area two summers ago, when loyalists attacked police and nationalists from nearby Short Strand. Other sections of the UVF, including its central leadership based on Belfast's Shankill Road, have been more wary of getting involved in the violent disturbances.

The chief constable said many young people and children were out on the streets "without parental control" and were at risk of "blighting their own future".

His comments come after four consecutive days of violence in the east of the city, which included gunshots directed at PSNI riot squad officers on Saturday evening.