No action is to be taken over Sinn Féin-branded Irish-language road signs that a DUP MLA claimed were "intimidatory" to unionists, a Stormont department has confirmed.
Brian Kingston took issue with the signs - which include a Sinn Féin logo, the word "slow" and the Irish translation "go mall" - being placed in a "mixed" residential area of North Belfast.
He made a complaint to the Department for Infrastructure in June, claiming the red diamond-shaped bilingual signs were "considered intimidatory by unionist residents".
Read more: Bilingual signs vandalised 300 times in five years costing councils almost £40,000
The North Belfast MLA also accused Sinn Féin of a "transparent attempt to hijack road safety for party politicking".
Sinn Féin hit out at the DUP MLA for being "exercised about signs" while his party is continuing to block the restoration of Stormont in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
The party said that "if these signs help save one child's life then this is a worthwhile intervention".
The Department for Infrastructure, which is headed by Sinn Féin minister John O'Dowd, had been considering the matter after receiving correspondence from Mr Kingston.
But in a fresh statement, a spokesman told Belfast Live: "The department can confirm that the signs have not been removed as they are not considered to cause any road safety issues for road users."
The signs were erected in the Deerpark and Oldpark Road area. Mr Kingston posted an image on Twitter of one of the signs attached to a tree as he complained about the display.
His post raised eyebrows online, with some questioning how the bilingual signs could be considered intimidating and others expressing support for the Irish language.
Since last October, roads officials have received 12 complaints about party-political signage on street furniture such as lampposts across Northern Ireland.
Only one complaint resulted in the displays being removed. Signs in Newry and south Armagh were removed following a complaint last November after they were deemed to be a road safety hazard.
Complaints about party-political signage were also recorded in areas including Hillsborough and the Queen's University area of South Belfast, according to a Freedom of Information request.
In Strabane, Co Tyrone, a complaint about election posters in June this year did not result in any action from officials after the displays were already removed by others.
According to laws in Northern Ireland, people are prohibited from affixing signs to street furniture including trees "without lawful authority" and could face a fine.
Details of the rules under the Roads Order (NI) 1993 were outlined in a long-delayed Stormont report aimed at addressing cultural disputes including flags on lampposts.
The £800,000 report from the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition was published last December.
But it failed to find consensus on changing legislation around the flying of flags from lampposts and no action plan was agreed on implementing any of its recommendations.
Figures obtained in January by Belfast Live showed that bilingual signs have been vandalised more than 300 times in the past five years at a cost to council ratepayers of almost £40,000.
Read more: Bilingual signs vandalised 300 times in five years costing councils almost £40,000
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