A number of policemen and civilians have been injured in Northern Ireland during rioting in the town of Portadown.

The trouble broke out during a confrontation between hundreds of Protestants and Catholics on the town's Garvaghy road - a focal point for disorder in recent years.

The Catholic residents had gathered to protest against an earlier Protestant march.Bricks, bottles and petrol bombs were thrown at police and troops; up to eleven policemen and at least three civilians were reported to have been injured.

A BBC correspondent in Northern Ireland says the trouble will be particularly disappointing for those who hoped that the Stormont peace accord signed in April would usher in a new era of tolerance.