Crude bomb found at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Glengormley

POLICE are investigating after a small bomb was defused at a Catholic church in Glengormley, County Antrim.

The “crude but viable” bomb was found outside St Mary’s on the Hill Church on the Carnmoney Road around 10pm on Saturday night.

A full scale alert was sounded and a PSNI helicopter hovered over the scene for a period of time.

The PSNI closed the Carnmoney Road for a number of hours while Army technical offiers  made the device safe.

As part of the alert, a number of homes had to be evacuated.

The device was later remoed for forensic examination.

Local priest Fr Damian McCaughan said the alert caused disruption for those living in the area, including elderly people and young families