British government promises to scale down security along the Border must be implemented despite calls for freight lorries to be protected, the SDLP said today.
SDLP Assembly member Mr Dominic Bradley rejected calls for joint police and British army patrols along border roads to protect lorries and deter IRA hijackers.
After a meeting on Thursday with the British army's GOC in Northern Ireland, Lieutenant-General Philip Trousdell, Democratic Unionist leader the Reverend Ian Paisley said "hundreds of thousands of pounds" were being lost to the economy because of hijackings.
The North Antrim MP argued: "The activity of the IRA is destructive to Ulster's social well-being and is a matter of grave concern that the police appear to have lost control of the roads in border areas.
"I have asked the GOC to supply the police with the necessary military back-up so that there will be no "no go" areas in Northern Ireland."
Ulster Unionist MPMr David Burnside has also called for joint army-police patrols after last month's revelation that tobacco firm Gallaher's has had to use alternative routes to transport its cigarettes from its Ballymena plant to the Republic.
Last month, Gallaher's said police were unable to give assurances about the safety of their lorries after cigarettes with a retail value of more than £1 million were stolen during a hijacking in December.
The company was granted a meeting with the Northern Ireland Office.
Gallaher's would not confirm, however, newspaper claims that it was forced to ship goods from Ballymena over the Irish Sea to Liverpool and back over the water again to reach Dublin.