Plans to erect a three-metre high peace wall at a flashpoint interface in north Belfast have been recommended in a community safety report for the area.

Commissioned by the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers, the report says David Trimble and Mark Durkan should address the basic safety needs by implementing the "minimal wall/fence proposals"

The report by two Americans with experience of conflict resolution has been accepted by Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan.

Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan held talks on the issue last May in an effort to address concerns over community dialogue and safety with the residents from the Ardoyne area.

The leadership by the first and deputy first minister on this issue will be crucial

Reverend Norman Hamilton

The talks at Stormont were part of an initiative by the two ministers that led to the end of last year's dispute over access for children to the Holy Cross girls Catholic primary school in a Protestant part of Ardoyne.

The safety report suggests a wall should be built along the Alliance avenue side of the intersection, but does not include plans for road realignment in the area, a measure favoured by Protestant residents to prevent rioting in the area.

Reverend Norman Hamilton of Ballysillan Presbyterian Church said he was surprised by the recommendations.

"There have been many configurations about walls and fences and the like the difference between this one and previous suggestions is that there is no suggestion that the road should be realigned in any way," he said

"The quality of political response to this report will be crucial.

"Very many people have come to the conclusion that politics has not worked in this part of north Belfast and that indeed the most vulnerable members of society, the pensioners living on their own, are bearing the nightly brunt of the violence that is going on."

David Trimble: Has accepted the recommendations

The report also recommends joining a fence to the wall to protect houses further along the interface and encouraging confidence and dialogue between the two communities.

However, Mr Hamilton said he did not believe such suggestions would receive support in either community.

"If there is not adequate protection for people who are being terrorised in their own homes then it is very hard to see how a context can be established where meaningful dialogue takes place.

"I am slightly surprised at the recommendations.

"I think it is an entirely understandable one, but given the political difficulty that walls have created in the past it is, in my view, hard to see how this will be accepted by both communities.

"The issue of walls on the Ardoyne Road is one that has caused enormous difficulty over the past number of months and that is why the leadership by the first and deputy first minister on this issue will be crucial."

In recent months security patrols in north Belfast were being stepped up following the continuing violence at sectarian interfaces.