Controlled explosion on Cookstown device

The centre of Cookstown in Co Tyrone was sealed off today after the RUC found a suspect device in the area.

A British Army technical officer carried out a controlled explosion on a device found in a holdall at the rear of a house in Loy Street.

The holdall contained nothing suspicious, an RUC spokesman said.

A search began early this morning after a man claiming to be an IRA member contacted the RUC and said a bomb had been placed bear the town’s courthouse.