Fireworks and other missiles have been thrown at police in Belfast tonight after public disorder broke out following a protest in the north-west of the city.
Riot police were deployed to the Lanark Way area when trouble flared after a number of people gathered when a protest was held in opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Some bins were set alight in the area and the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that fireworks and missiles were thrown at officers.
Several armoured cars were deployed to the scene as well as police in riot gear.
Lanark Way is located in an interface between the loyalist Shankill Road and nationalist Springfield Road and has been the scene of public order disturbances in the past, including serious violence in April when it was the venue for successive nights of trouble.
Police tonight advised motorists and pedestrians to avoid Lanark Way until further notice.
Earlier this week, a bus was burnt out in Newtownards, Co Down in an attack politicians linked to loyalist opposition to the protocol.
The attack in the predominantly unionist area happened on the day set by the DUP earlier in the autumn to pull down the institutions at Stormont if major changes to the protocol had not been secured.
The DUP has not yet withdrawn ministers from the Executive, insisting progress is being made in efforts to dismantle the contentious Irish Sea border.
Opposition to the arrangements that have created trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK was a factor behind rioting that flared in several loyalist areas across the region in April.
Additional reporting: PA wire
