Petrol bombs hurled at police before parades

Around 50 petrol bombs were thrown at police in the North this morning ahead of today’s parade by British loyalists.

Officers were pelted with the explosive devices as they attended the scene of two burning cars in Derry at around 1am this morning.

There were no injuries and police have not ruled out the involvement of dissident republicans in the disturbances.

The cars had been set alight on Fahan Street close to the nationalist Bogside estate.

Missiles had earlier been thrown towards a meeting place of the Apprentice Boys, who are gathering today to commemorate an historic victory by Protestants over Catholics in the area.

Police are on the alert for further trouble today.

The Apprentice Boys’ parade commemorates the actions of their forefathers in shutting the city’s gates against the forces of the Catholic King James in December 1688.

There have been efforts made in recent years to alleviate tensions between the city’s majority Catholic population and demonstrators.