A police cordon erected at Tates Avenue on Friday morning during the security alert

POLICE have reopened the Westlink in both directions following a security alert.

A suspicious object was found near the Roden Street footbridge on Friday.

Police say it was an ‘elaborate hoax’.

The Westlink was closed in both directions between the Grosvenor Road and Donegall Road.

It is the fourth alert in as many hours.

A security alert is underway in west Belfast on Friday afternoon.

Police were called to the Meadowhill Grange area following the discovery of a suspicious object.

The PSNI said: “The public are advised to avoid this area if possible.”

Earlier, Army bomb squad officers carried out a controlled explosion in south Belfast.

It followed the discovery of a suspicious object in the Tates Avenue area.

Police said the device was taken away “for further examination to determine its nature”.

The area has been reopened to traffic.

Meanwhile a security alert on the Shore Road at Greenisland in Co Antrim has ended after nothing suspicious was found.

The area has been reopened to traffic.