Loyalists 'behind blast bombs'

The devices were found beside a bench near the BMX track

Loyalist paramilitaries left four blast bombs beside a BMX track in south Belfast, the police have said.

They were discovered after a tip-off from a member of the public on Tuesday night.

The blast bombs had been left beside a bench in a BMX park, used by children, near the railway line on Bentham Drive, off Donegall Road.

The police said that the devices, while crude, were "viable" and could have "killed or caused serious injury".

Railway services were disrupted while the Army carried out a controlled explosion.

Chief Inspector Trevor O'Neill said loyalists were behind the attacks

Chief Inspector Trevor O'Neill said those responsible were "out of touch".

"We believe that the devices are linked to loyalist paramilitaries and let me be clear - there is absolutely no place in a civilised society for people to be acquiring crude devices for whatever their misguided purposes are," he said.

"Thankfully these devices have now been taken out of circulation.

"Society is moving forward and it is vital that we have the continued support of all the community to ensure that incidents like this are firmly confined to the past."

Police have appealed for information from anyone who may have noticed anything suspicious in the area last night - particularly those who may have seen someone with a blue holdall.