Controlled explosion at the Deanery

A controlled explosion was carried out by Army technical officers on the small van, which caused considerable damage to the Deanery, including windows and an ornate ceiling fan.

The Dean and his wife had been out when police attention was drawn to the vehicle, parked right outside the Deanery, a listed building, and according to the Dean, the couple were spoken to by the police when they returned home at 11.45pm and asked how long the vehicle had been parked outside.

Speaking about the incident, Dean Morton said after he and his wife, Rosemary, arrived home a member of the police spoke to them. He said he told the police the vehicle was not parked outside their home when they left at 8pm.

Dean Morton said he looked out the windows of his home several times before eventually retiring at around 1.30am.

"At 3.41am we got a call from the police to they would have to evacuate us. We had been worried and I had looked out several times and wondered about it," he said, adding that at the time it felt 'sinister'.

At that time the Dean and his wife were among those to be evacuated from Bishop Street Within, St Columb's Court and Palace Street, with most spending the remainder of the night and morning in the Tower Hotel.

Paying tribute to the hotel staff and others who had assisted them he said the evacuees were given tea and biscuits while they waited for the all clear, and before leaving were treated to a full, cooked breakfast.

"Then we came back to this rude awakening," he said, describing how the Deanery was littered with broken glass.

"There are a lot of broken windows and some may even be cracked windows. A fan light very much of the style of this type of house in the city is very considerably damaged in half a dozen places," he said, as is the lamp above the light.

Also damaged are the windows in the dining room, the drawing room and in places on the top floor, including a bedroom window.

The Dean said they did not know how to proceed with regard to having the damage assessed, and whether-or-not to clear up before the assessors had visited. The fan light is temporarily re-glazed and other windows have since been replaced. Other work is ongoing.

"The main thing is that no one was injured or cut with flying glass or anything."

The Dean said there was no other course of action and he praised the PSNI for their profeesionalism, help and support to himself, his wife and family, as well as to everyone else effected.

A PSNI spokesman said the police regretted that damage was caused, but said it "was necessary to take action to ensure that an unattended vehicle close to the courthouse did not contain a device".

"All other options were exhausted, however it was essential to ensure the safety of those using the court," he said, adding: "Our foremost priority is always the protection of life, the public would expect no less."

Throughout the operation the road between Bishop Street Without and the Diamond was closed. It later emerged that the security alert was not deliberate.

On Friday there were severe traffic disruptions for most of the day while the army carried out a controlled explosion in relation to a suspicious object was found on the top deck of Craigavon Bridge.