SDLP proposes closure of 25 police stations

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has proposed closing down 25 police stations in the North and beginning a process towards the eventual disarming of the police force.

Unionists have reacted angrily to the proposal, with the UUP's Fred Cobain, a member of the Policing Board, accusing the SDLP of being anti-police.

Mr Durkan has denied the claim.

"Are we talking about reducing policing levels on the ground in the community? No we're not," he said.

"We're talking about making sure that more of policing capital goes into the sort of modern equipment that they need, rather than being absorbed in fairly obsolete equipment that is serving no particular purpose other than creating an image of fortification around buildings that are, as often as not, unoccupied."