Londonderry: Police station device was 'a viable explosive'

A grey Ford Mondeo was hijacked by a number of men at about 22:30 GMT on Sunday

A device left outside a police station in the Waterside area of Londonderry was viable, the police have said.

A delivery driver had been forced at gunpoint to drive the device to Waterside police station on Sunday night.

Police had initially described it as "an elaborate hoax".

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said following further examination police can confirm "it was a viable explosive device".

"This further underlines the reckless and callous disregard by those responsible for the safety of the driver, the local community and the police officers who serve them," he said.

• Man forced to drive at gunpoint to police station

The driver's grey Ford Mondeo was hijacked by a number of men at about 22:30 GMT on Sunday.

Police said the suspicious object was placed in the delivery driver's car in the Currynierin area of the city before he was forced to drive the 2.5 miles (4km) to the police station. He was then able to raise the alarm.

Supt Clive Beatty said police believe dissident republicans were behind the attack.

"Our line of enquiry at the moment is that violent dissident republicans are responsible for this and one potential line of enquiry is that it is the work of the New IRA," he said.

Police patrols would be stepped up in the city, he said, where he described the threat level as "substantial".

A number of homes were evacuated and local primary and nursery schools closed due to the security operation that followed the hijacking.

Lisnagelvin Nursery School was forced to close on Monday.

Glenda Mellon, who lives near the police station, and whose daughter goes to the school, said: "I am shocked now to think that this is real. It wasn't just another fake.

"That I am having to explain to a child that a bomb might actually have gone off at school is quite shocking, something I never thought I would have to do as a parent."

Patricia Taggart, the school's principal said she found it difficult to believe anyone would plant a viable device so close to where young children were being educated.

"We teach three and four year olds, it is just shocking to think what could have happened if that device had gone off and the children were in nursery," she said.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood said those behind the incident "are acting against the will and the wishes of our community".

"Nobody in Derry or anywhere on this island wants to see violence or bloodshed and we need to see these people taken off the streets," the Foyle MP said.

'Blatant disregard'

The Northern Ireland secretary said that "those responsible have demonstrated a blatant disregard for public safety".

"The vast majority of people will condemn this attempted attack and other incidents which have taken place over recent days," said Chris Heaton-Harris.

"The PSNI have my full support."

Chair of the Derry and Strabane Policing and Community Safety Partnership Darren Guy said leaving a viable device in a residential area close to a school and hospital "shows the total disregard" those behind the attack have for the community.

The Ulster Unionist councillor added: "The fact that they used a delivery driver from the area to transport the device makes it even more despicable. There can be no justification for these attacks".

On Monday, police said the device was a petrol can with a pipe attached which was designed to look like a car bomb.

In a separate incident, a 50-year-old man who had been arrested in connection with a bomb attack on police in Strabane on Thursday has been released.

Two police officers escaped injury after their patrol vehicle was damaged in the incident in County Tyrone.