Flag protesters storm Belfast City Hall

Protesters have tried to storm Belfast City Hall after councillors voted to remove the Union flag from the building.

Hundreds of loyalists took to the street and eyewitnesses reported seeing Irish tricolours being brunt to show their opposition to a motion to have the Union flag removed for the first time in over a century.

Minutes after the vote saw Belfast city council restrict the flying of the union flag over city hall to designated days during the year, hooded loyalists tried to kick down the back doors of city hall.