Guns were back on the streets in Belfast tonight after three people were shot during the most serious rioting in the North for years.

Dissident republicans were responsible for the gun shots which wounded a press photographer during serious rioting in Belfast, police said.

A PSNI air crew who escaped major injury when their helicopter flipped upside down on landing are lucky to be alive, a senior officer said tonight.

Police in the North came under renewed attack from rioters last night as the First Minister and Deputy First Minister condemned those behind the violence.

THE North’s first minister and deputy first minister have hit out at those behind 48 hours of rioting and defended their political efforts to ease tensions over controversial parades.

Police chiefs in the North today called for a long-term solution to the annual parading disputes after another Twelfth of July was marked by serious rioting.

Last night's rioting in the North, in which 21 officers were injured, was orchestrated, police said today.

North Belfast was picking up the pieces today after the worst night of violence for years.