Police have said “no evidence” has been produced to support a allegations that a PSNI officer sent a text to loyalists shortly before Kevin McDaid was killed encouraging them to take action against Catholics who had put up tricolours.

The Sunday World newspaper claimed that a senior UDA man told them that a police officer sent a text to one of the loyalists saying: “The Tricolours are still up in the town — are yis real men or what?”

It is understood that the loyalist mob murdered Mr McDaid and left his neighbour Damien Fleming fighting for his life after entering the area to rip down a number of flags that had been erected.

However, a PSNI spokeswoman said that the newspaper has “not been able to provide the PSNI with any information to confirm such a text exists”.

She added that officers were made aware of these allegations on Saturday and have spoken with the Sunday World regarding the report. The spokeswoman added that the PSNI treats such allegations with the utmost seriousness.