FORMER loyalist terror leader Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair has been told he is not welcome back on his old Belfast stamping ground.

Adair is living in exile in Horwich after being released from prison but last month defied a death threat by paying a visit to Belfast's Shankill estate.

Hundreds of protesters waved banners during a rally this week designed to keep the former UDA brigadier away from his former home.

The protest was arranged by residents who fear Adair could throw the estate, now said to be peaceful, back into turmoil.

On his return last month, Adair posed for pictures outside his old home in Boundary Way before declaring: "The Shankill is my home - and I've no doubt I will be able to return there for good some day."

The vow was a taunt to his former UDA colleagues who hold him responsible for the murder of loyalist icon John Gregg in February 2003.

Adair's family and around 30 supporters were driven out of their homes after Gregg's death and settled in Bolton weeks later.

Adair joined wife Gina and the couple's two youngest children at their terraced home on Chorley New Road, Horwich, in January after serving two thirds of a 16-year sentence for directing terrorism.

The Shankill Estate protesters this week carried placards bearing slogans such as Shankill Women Against Adair, No Way Back Adair, Shankill Feuds All Adair's Making and Shankill United Again.