Statement by Mid Ulster TUV chairman Walter Miller:

"The manner in which republicans were permitted to disrupt the annual Remembrance Parade in Bellaghy on Sunday was a disgrace, aggravated by the total absense of police within the village. Is Bellaghy now a 'no go area' for the PSNI. Why were the police not present, particularly to escort Girls Brigade and Boys Brigade children who were left stranded at the top of the town in anticipation of the parade, and who then had themselves to walk down the village, where supposedly there was a suspect device, without any police protection?
 
"Police withdrawal in face of a republican threat, merely hands victory to the terrorists and those intent on disrupting the solemn act of remembrance. Preserving and protecting the parade should have been a police priority, but instead Bellaghy was abandoned."