Tesco bomb police arrest man

Customers of the supermarket giant were targeted

Detectives are questioning a man in connection with a terror bomb campaign against the supermarket giant Tesco.

The 50-year-old man was arrested in Bournemouth on Monday and police have applied to the town's magistrates to extend the time they can hold him.

The supermarket chain and its customers were subjected to a campaign which started on 4 September last year when a Tesco store in the Poole and Bournemouth area received an anonymous blackmail threat for an undisclosed sum of cash.

Later that month a small incendiary device in a Jiffy bag exploded when it was opened by a 70-year-old man from Ferndown.

He was not injured by the explosion but was left temporarily blinded by smoke.

Three other devices were then found at the Alder Hills sorting office in Bournemouth which was evacuated as police dealt with the suspect packages.

Letters were also sent to a series of residential addresses in the Poole and Bournemouth region.

Detectives said it appeared that the person or persons behind the campaign were targeting Tesco shoppers.

The investigation team has put together a psychological profile of the person they believe could be behind the campaign.