Army technical officers make safe a pipel bomb in Kells, Co Antrim

DETECTIVES are investigating a link between two pipe bomb incidents in the space of the week.

On Wednesday evening, a pipebomb was found during an overnight security alert in Kells, close to Ballymena.

It was discovered on Tildarg Road in the Co Antrim village some time after 8pm.

Army bomb experts made the device safe and the road has now re-opened.

It is the second time in a week a device has been found on Tildarg Road.

Last Thursday, a bomb was found hidden in a hedgerow.

The viable device was discovered inside a plastic bag in a laneway at around 1pm.

Four houses were evacuated while army bomb experts examined the device and made it safe.

The bomb, which police said was small, was taken away for forensic examination.