Off-duty officer escapes car blast

An off-duty police officer in the North today escaped injury after an explosion at his car.

The blast occurred in Dunclug Park, Ballymena, Co Antrim, at around 2.40pm.

Police said the area had been sealed off while Army bomb disposal experts examined the scene.

Democratic Unionist Assembly member Ian Paisley Junior was alarmed at the explosion.

‘‘Obviously we need to establish what exactly happened but this is a very worrying development,’’ the Police Board member said.

‘‘Dunclug Park is a quiet residential area and would be quite mixed.

‘‘Community relations would be good. So this is a very serious incident.’’