A hoax bomb alert during which police were pelted with missiles and petrol bombs in the Bogside on Tuesday has been condemened.

By Eamonn Houston eamonn@derrynews.net

Police came under sustained attack from around 40 youths as British Army Technical Officers moved to deal with a suspect device attached to the windscreen of a vehicle at Pilot’s Row.

There were no reports of any injuries asa a result of the trouble.

PSNI Inspector John Allen said such incidents were “unacceptable”.

“My officers were in the area to deal with a potentially serious incident and were hindered in their attempts to prevent injury or damage to the local community.

“It is by sheer good fortune that neither my officers or members of the public were injured,” he said.

Foyle MLA, Martina Anderson, who lives in the Bogside, said: “This is the last thing the local community want to have to contend with late at night or indeed anytime of the day. The disruption caused by this hoax device served no purpose other than to upset the lives of the local community.

“It led to many roads in the area having to be sealed off, it left residents many of whom are elderly upset and unsure if they were going to have to leave their homes overnight whilst this  device was being dealt with. Their situation was not helped by a small group who had gathered shortly before midnight and went on to attack the PSNI with petrol bombs and fireworks narrowly missing a number of homes and parked cars in Rossville Street,” Ms Anderson said.

The MLA added that people in the area had ‘suffered enough’. 

 SDLP Councillor John Tierney, who lives nearby, condemned the trouble.

“It was obviously a ploy to get the police in, because when they did come in there were petrol bombs, rockets and other missiles thrown at them.

“Even people who were out for the night, they were saying the same as me, condemning it, saying they were disgusted at it,” he said.