A Sinn Fein MLA has said the erection of Parachute regiment flags in Derry over the past week is "disrespectful" with intention to hurt the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday.

Raymond McCartney was speaking after Parachute regiment flags were erected on lampposts in the Newbuildings area on the eve of the anniversary of the killings.

Paratroopers were responsible for killing 14 people in Derry on January 30, 1972, and injuring many others during an anti-internment rally.

The Foyle MLA said: "We were contacted by a number of people at the weekend upset about the erection of these flags.

"Given the brutal history of the Parachute Regiment in this city the erection of these flags is provocative and disrespectful and clearly designed to hurt the families who had loved ones murdered and injured on Bloody Sunday.

"It is also an effort to raise tensions in the greater Waterside area at a time when many others are working night and day to ease community tension and build peace."

Mr McCartney added: "I welcome the condemnation of this provocative gesture by some unionist leaders to ensure these flags are taken down immediately."

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Belfast Telegraph