Seven charged over school protest

Parents and children walk to school amid tight security

Police have charged seven people with public order offences in connection with loyalist protests outside a Catholic school in north Belfast.

They are expected to appear at Belfast Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

The police had earlier made eight arrests understood to be related to public order offences arising from the demonstrations outside the Holy Cross Catholic Girls' Primary School in Ardoyne.

Among those charged is Upper Ardoyne community worker Jim Potts, while another is a juvenile.

One of the eight people was released on Wednesday.

Protestant residents have been protesting for more than two weeks about alleged attacks on their homes.

The security forces have had to escort pupils and their parents to and from the school, which is situated in a Protestant area of Ardoyne.

The dispute started in June, but a series of attempts to start talks between the two groups over the summer broke up in mutual recrimination.