NI minister cautioned by police

The incident happened during a street party in Cluan Place

The Regional Development Minister, Peter Robinson, has been cautioned by police after blocking a road in east Belfast.

The incident happened during a street party in Cluan Place on Saturday.

The East Belfast MP, whose department has responsibility for roads, said he only intervened because the situation was tense.

The police are understood to be preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

'Repercussions'

Earlier, the police turned down a request from local residents to close the road.

Mr Robinson and a party colleague, Councillor Ruth Patterson, were later cautioned.

"There is a touch of irony about the matter but I ask everybody to exercise their judgement if they were in my circumstances and saw a situation progressively getting out of control," he said.

"I had within my power the ability to defuse the situation albeit there may repercussions for my colleague Ruth Patterson and I.

"We are prepared to carry those responsibilities. Far rather that we would have some repercussions on that front rather than have some serious incident occurring down on the street."