Waiting Game At Newry Bomb Alert

An Army bomb disposal team is continuing to examine a suspicious vehicle parked near the courthouse in Newry.

The area around the court, in New Street, was cordoned off by the security forces late on Tuesday evening and the Army bomb team was requested by police. They are adopting a cautious approach and have been at the scene all night and are likely to be at the incident for some time to come.

Meanwhile, the PSNI said motorists should avoid the area around the court and warned of traffic delays.

Commenting, the SDLP Newry and Armagh MLA Dominic Bradley has condemned those responsible for the alert.

"It is deeply concerning," he said.

Court business has been affected with some cases postponed and others moved to Armagh.

Sinn Féin DPP member and councillor Brendan Curran said the car at the centre of the alert was driven into the courthouse while a warning was phoned into the police.

He said: "Yet again the only victims of this type of activity are members of the local community. Many roads in Newry are backed up with traffic delaying some commuters travelling into the town by over an hour."

(BMcC/GK)