Bomb scare at Belfast court was false alarm

A bomb alert has ended at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast after the package which gave rise to alarm was found to be harmless.

Streets around the High Court, Court of Appeal and City Hall have now re-opened.

The Laganside courts centre which is just across Chichester Street from the High Court remained unaffected throughout the alert. Traffic disruption was severe for a time this morning .

The false alarm follows an alert yesterday at Stormont Castle which houses offices used by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. The package was address to Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers.

The device was made safe. The Assembly is not sitting due to a mid-term break and there was little disruption.

Another device was discovered at the Derry office of the Public Prosecution Service while two other devices were intercepted at sorting offices in Co Antrim last Friday. They were addressed to the PSNI chief constable Matt Baggott and his senior commander in Derry.

British army technical experts have also made safe a bomb in the Village area of south Belfast near the M1 approach to the city.

Homes in the Kilburn Street area were evacuated for a time last night while a bomb disposal team dealt with what the PSNI called a “viable explosive device”.