Blast bombs are thrown at police in Lurgan

Railway services have been disrupted by the alert

Two blast bombs and up to seven petrol bombs have been thrown at police dealing with a security alert in Lurgan, County Armagh.

A number of other missiles have been thrown at the scene of the alert in Lake Street. Six police officers suffered minor injuries.

Earlier a number of houses were evacuated due to the alert, which has now been declared a hoax.

Police have advised people to avoid the area.

Train services have now returned to normal after being disrupted by the alert.

Police said a hard core of about ten people orchestrated a crowd of up to thirty during the trouble.

The injuries suffered by the officers are understood to include ringing in the ears after the blast bombs were thrown.

One of the bombs was thrown over the roof of a house which police described as "completely indiscriminate" as those who threw the bomb could not have known who was going to be in the area where it landed.