UNIONIST flags have been removed from a mixed residential area in Belfast, less than a week after they were first erected.
The flags went up on Saintfield Road, between Commons Brae and Lenaghan Avenue, last Saturday.
However, by Friday they had disappeared, and are understood to have been removed by residents.
They included paramilitary and Parachute Regiment flags as well as one depicting a gunman.
Union flags were earlier removed from the nearby Four Winds roundabout, less than 24 hours after they had been hung from lamp posts.
Speaking after the latest development, SDLP councillor John Gallen said he had received emails from residents expressing their relief that the flags had been taken down.
He said that in the days after the flags were erected, he had "never been so inundated" by people from "all backgrounds" calling for their removal.
"There has never been any flags on that part of the Saintfield Road before," he said. "Even to be getting emails after they came down is unprecedented."
Alliance councillor Michelle Guy described it as a "very welcome outcome for the community".
"Thanks to everyone who got in touch to express their support for flags to come down in keeping with the integrated character of this neighbourhood," she wrote on Facebook.
"In particular, many unionist residents wanted to make clear they wanted these flags to come down, acknowledging how unrepresentative they are of the community along the Saintfield Road.
"Grateful to fellow elected reps from a range of parties, colleagues from the PCSP, council officers and to the PSNI for engaging proactively and constructively with us in response to the clear support from the community to have flags taken down."
