The prime minister has been holding a fresh round of peace talks with politicians from Northern Ireland.

Tony Blair met with Gerry Adams, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon on Tuesday in Downing Street in a bid to breach the current impasse over the peace process.

The meetings follow the cancellation of a British/Irish council meeting which had been scheduled to take place this week. Downing Street said a statement is expected to be made by the prime minister later today and further discussions will take place on Wednesday.

The joint council meeting, which was set to examine the drugs problem, was planned for Tuesday but has since been delayed until February. The meeting would have involved the Sinn Fein health minister, Bairbre de Brun - who is currently excluded from council meetings following the imposition of sanctions by Trimble.

Trimble and his deputy are said to be eager to make further progress on the talks which began when Tony Blair flew to Northern Ireland last Wednesday. Government sources are stressing that "extensive discussions" took place over the weekend and have suggested these will continue over the coming days.

However, serious disagreement still exists in the province, with unionists expressing alarm at the IRA's failure to meet decommissioning commitments.

Republicans also remain unhappy at what they see as the British government's failure to fully implement the recommendations of the Patten commission on policing in the province.