Gun Found Near Westlink

A firearm and ammunition have been recovered by police in Belfast in an area that has seen recent sectarian confrontation.

Members of the public reported a number of youths acting suspiciously in the Roden Street area of the city this morning.

A police operation was mounted and the gun and bullets recovered.

The road has been closed and the incident is ongoing.

The Westlink – which has previously been the scene of many clashes between 'warring' factions - was highlighted again recently after a house at Roden Street, in the loyalist Donegall Road area, was targeted twice over a recent weekend.

The opening of a new pedestrian bridge is being blamed for exacerbating the trouble which led to windows at the property, owned by grandmother-of-five, being smashed.

Community workers from the loyalist Village and nationalist Grosvenor Road areas where the attacks are happening said problems have escalated since a new footbridge was built over the Westlink.

See: Westlink Bridge Opens Sectarian Attack Route

(BMcC/JM)