POLICE IN NORTHERN Ireland are dealing with what has been described as a ‘viable bomb’ in east Belfast this afternoon.

Sky News sources believe the explosive device was found under the car of a police officer. It apparently fell from the vehicle as it was being reversed out of a driveway.

Army experts were called to the scene.

A spokesperson for the PSNI said that police are attending a security alert on the Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast, confirming that a number of houses had been evacuated.

Part of the road, between Knock traffic lights and Cabin Hill Park, has been closed and diversions are in place.

SDLP Policing Spokesperson Conall McDevitt has condemned the alleged, attempted attack. Speaking as efforts continued to disarm the explosive, he said, “This is a cynical and deplorable act.

“Those seeking to target police officers are undermining not only the stated will of the people of Ireland who have long since rejected violence, but also the desire for a new beginning for policing in the North, which is shared by the majority of citizens.”