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The DUP leadership has held talks with the organisation which represents loyalist paramilitary groups, including the UDA and UVF.

The party said the meeting in Belfast with the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) discussed opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Party leader Arlene Foster attended, along with her deputy Nigel Dodds and East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson.

The party said the discussions had been "constructive and useful".

"We listened to the views expressed and the need for political and constitutional methods to safeguard the UK single market and ensure there is unfettered flow of trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland," a statement read.

Criticism

The LCC's chairman David Campbell recently faced criticism after saying loyalists would "fight physically" to maintain "freedoms" within the UK.

In January, the LCC also met top civil servants from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to express anger at the Irish Sea border arrangements.

The SDLP and Alliance parties criticised the talks, accusing the NIO of giving credibility to illegal organisations.

Responding to Thursday's talks, Alliance Party leader and Justice Minister Naomi Long said "proscribed terrorist organisations are not a legitimate part of our community".

"They aren't stakeholders to be consulted."

Describing the groups as a "malignant force destroying our community", she added the job of ministers is to "eradicate paramilitarism, not give them a platform or legitimacy".

Several unionist politicians have pointed to growing anger within loyalist communities and claim the protocol could provoke violence.

The LCC was set up in 2015 by Mr Campbell, a former chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party, and Jonathan Powell, chief of staff to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, as a means to help bring an end to loyalist paramilitarism.

It is not a proscribed organisation and is said to represent a range of individuals and views from the wider Protestant unionist loyalist community.