Unionists and republicans clashed at Stormont today over the phasing-out of the police fulltime reserve.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has confirmed his plans to remove the 500-strong reserve in line with the Patten reforms of policing, having pledged it will not affect frontline policing.

But the DUP today cited opposition to the move from the Police Federation and the Superintendents Association and claimed vulnerable communities would be at risk from dissident republican attack.

The DUP tabled a motion, which won support from unionist parties and the Alliance at the Assembly, asking for the decision to be delayed until a replacement for the outgoing Chief Constable is appointed.

Ian Paisley Jnr said: "Dissident republican groups are capable, clearly capable, of murder.

"We have already had to follow behind the coffin of one gallant officer in recent months.

"And we have also seen soldiers murdered in recent months.

"Are we going to have a situation where in that climate the chief of police decides that it would be wrong to keep the fulltime reserves in place?

"I think that that would be the wrong decision."

But Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey said the Policing Board received a briefing from the Chief Constable which showed he could cope without the reserve.

"We were told unreservedly by the Chief Constable and his entire team that the decision to phase out the fulltime reserve would go ahead... and all of that could be accommodated notwithstanding any potential security threat," said Mr Maskey.

The Sinn Fein South Belfast MLA added: "We were told that many of these officers are spending a lot of their time, 61% of the time of these officers, guarding stations, a number of which are redundant, closed, they're not even in public use."

He added: "My opposition to the motion is very simply rooted in the position that we don't need this complement of officers.

"I do believe that the party that has put this proposal is actually responding more to the lash-back, if you like, from the Federation than they are to the reality of policing needs of today."

Sinn Fein's Martina Anderson drew unionist anger when she cited evidence of collusion between reserve officers and loyalists in murders carried out during the Troubles and in the sectarian murder of Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill.

But the DUP's Arlene Foster condemned the comments and said she was proud of the police tradition in Northern Ireland.

"I have listened over this past number of days to comments made in relation to those Romanians that have been forced out of their own home," said Ms Foster.

"When I was eight years of age I was forced out of my home by the IRA.

"Why? Because my father was an auxiliary constable in the Royal Ulster Constabulary."

She said lives would be put at risk in her Fermanagh constituency from dissident attack as a result of the scrapping of the fulltime reserve.

But the SDLP's Alban Maginness said only a fraction of the 500 reserve officers were involved in frontline policing, while it was said that the Chief Constable planned to replace desk-bound police officers with civilian staff to free-up resources.

The SDLP's Dolores Kelly later said the DUP was using the issue as a smokescreen to avoid the implementation of the Patten recommendations on policing.

"Some will have legitimate concerns about the loss of officers, but for many in the DUP this is an effort to resist the Patten recommendations," she said.

"The SDLP do not dismiss the threat of dissident and loyalist violence in our communities.

"However, we believe that a full assessment of current and future security needs has been carried out and acknowledge the view of the Chief Constable and the PSNI Senior Management Team on the situation including in relation to the future of the fulltime reserve.

"The PSNI should allocate further resources to frontline duties and the continued implementation of police reform should be pushed on without disruption by the DUP or any other party."

Ulster Unionist Leslie Cree said the move to phase out the reserve should be delayed.

"With an imminent change at the top of the police service it is my party's view it is imperative that a fulltime reserve is kept in place allowing the new chief constable to evaluate the matter for him or herself," he said.

"This cannot be a matter of ideology or partisanship it is about policing a society threatened by terrorist organisations."

The Alliance Party backed the motion, but it said that it did so with reservations.

The DUP motion passed despite opposition from the SDLP and Sinn Fein.