Policing operation around Ards loyalist feud has cost PSNI over £475,000

Weavers grange was the site of one incident in the ongoing loyalist feud in Newtownards, which police say has cost them £476,000 to police.

The operation around the North Down loyalist feud has cost police hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The PSNI said in a statement on Friday that the feud has cost £476,000.

In the last week 11 men aged from 24 to 56 have been charged with offences related to the feud.

The charges have been for a range of offences, including unlawful assembly and affray.

Police Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said that the arrests in the last week are a "powerful reminder that police are responsible for law enforcement in Northern Ireland."

He added that the police condemn all forms of vigilante behaviour and said: "Those who engage in vigilante behaviour, whether claiming to represent an illegal paramilitary organisation or not, are usually only interested in asserting their own control and influence over local communities, with no regard for wider community concerns."

Mr Singleton described the cost of policing the feud as a "drain on our resources is coming at a time of stark budgetary pressures with fewer officers."

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