Police voice frustration at alert

The alert was sparked following the discovery of a suspicious object in the Allenhill Park area on Sunday morning (February 12)

In a social media post on Sunday afternoon police said: “Whilst we deal with a device, several residents have had their weekend disturbed and, no doubt, family plans cancelled.

“Whilst we regret any inconvenience that is caused, we will never put lives at risk by rushing these operations.

“Experience tells us that those who delight in putting their own community at risk by placing these devices may also have other intentions for us at the scene and as we saw just last year, residential areas are not off limits for them. Keeping People Safe always comes first.”

Chief Inspector Jon Burrows, who is leading the operation on the ground, expressed his frustration at ‘yet again our community being the ones that suffer at the hands of the backward facing few’.

Police added: “We will get everyone back to their homes as soon as we safely can, and are very grateful for the patience and kinds words local residents have had.

“The overwhelming sentiment coming from all sides is anger and irritation that some people continue to try to drag us back.”

Local DUP election candidate Carla Lockhart said: “I would utterly condemn this despicable, dangerous act.

“This is a large residential area with families just wanting to get on about their daily lives.

“This is holding an entire community to ransom and once again bring Lurgan to the fore for all the wrong reasons.

“I am liaising with the PSNI who are currently at the scene. I would encourage any one with any information to come forward to the PSNI and report it.”