Homes evacuated in security alerts

More than 60 homes in Derry city were evacuated overnight as police and the Army dealt with two security operations.

People living in the Prehen area on the city’s outskirts spent the night in a hotel while Army bomb disposal experts examined a van abandoned near their homes at the junction of Victoria Road and Prehen Road.

The vehicle was hijacked earlier in the Cityside area, police said.

In another part of Derry, four men were arrested when suspicious items were found in a car seen acting suspiciously on Foyle Bridge.

Police Inspector Nicky Thompson said: ‘‘We were following a vehicle on the Foyle Bridge last night at about 8.20pm.

‘‘That vehicle started to act very suspiciously and we stopped the vehicle and searched both the vehicle and the occupants.

‘‘As a result of some items found on board, four persons were arrested and the vehicle itself and the items have been sent away for further detailed forensic examination.’’

He said: ‘‘Around the same time as we were dealing with the incident on the Foyle Bridge a vehicle which was hijacked at 7.15pm by masked men turned up on the Victoria Road, quite close to the Everglades Hotel.’’