Fears over paramilitary violence

Tight security after the group fled the Shankill area

A Scottish MP has said he fears paramilitary violence in Scotland after loyalists from Northern Ireland fled there.

Family and associates of jailed loyalist Johnny Adair fled their homes in the lower Shankill area of Belfast for Scotland on Thursday.

The sudden departure of about 20 of Adair's closest followers was the latest development in a feud which has split Northern Ireland's largest paramilitary organisation.

The bloody feud within the Ulster Defence Association has been linked to the deaths of four men in the past two months.

Peter Duncan: Concerns over loyalist violence spreading to Scotland

The Conservative MP for the Cairnryan area, Peter Duncan, said he was concerned about paramilitary violence being exported to his constituency.

"If there are paramilitaries engaging in lawless behaviour such as racketeering, I would like to be reassured that there was no prospect of them continuing those activities in such close proximity to Belfast in what is a small rural community," he said.

Meanwhile, a camera crew working for a Northern Ireland television station has been attacked while filming a number of the loyalists in Ayrshire.

Ulster Television confirmed members of the crew were assaulted while shooting footage of associates of Johnny Adair on Friday.

A spokesman said there were no serious injuries and no equipment was damaged. The police were called to the area.

Adair and his associate John White were expelled from the UDA leadership last September, causing the split in the organisation.

Analysis: Loyalist power struggle

Adair's wife, Gina, and John White were among those to have left the Shankill after homes in the area were attacked on Wednesday night.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster on Friday, Mr White criticised the current UDA leadership.

"I feel people will turn on them and it has happened in the past when people misuse their power and abuse their power," he said.

"I think it's about time we started thinking about ourselves and our families. We don't want to be part of that organisation - that organisation is totally discredited."

Earlier this week, UDA members in the greater Shankill area said they no longer recognised the leaders of Adair's faction.

On Thursday, the funeral was held of one of the men involved in the decision to expel Adair from the UDA.

John Gregg, the 45-year-old leader of the Ulster Defence Association in south east Antrim, was killed in an attack linked to the feud within the organisation.

The feud erupted when Johnny Adair was expelled from the UDA last year

Robert Carson, a 33-year-old member of the UDA, was also killed when the taxi they were travelling in was ambushed near the docks area of Belfast last Saturday.

Supporters of Johnny Adair were being blamed for the attack.

Adair was returned to prison last month when Secretary of State Paul Murphy revoked his early release licence for his involvement in "a litany of terrorist crimes".

Meanwhile, an animal welfare charity has said it was inundated with calls and emails from all over the world after television coverage showed Adair's two alsatian dogs outside the empty house.

The USPCA said it was happy the dogs were being well cared for after it sent a welfare officer to check on them.