Aodhán RobertsA number of houses have been evacuated in Strabane, County Tyrone, after the discovery of a suspicious object.
The security alert was declared on Monday night in the Innisfree Gardens area of the town.
Access to the street is restricted with diversions in place.
SDLP councillor Jason Barr has said the community centre on Fountain Street is open to residents who are out of their homes and has asked the public to avoid the area.
It is understood a police search was taking place in the area when the security alert began.
Sinn Féin councillor Michaela Boyle said this was “the second time the area has been punished” with a security alert in recent days, after a bomb attack that damaged a police car driven by two officers on Thursday night.
“There’s a lot of people with children, older people, people with mobility issues and it’s not easy for them to just leave at this time of night,” Ms Boyle added.
“The people in this area want to know why their area is being targeted though at this late hour, the community has been hassled enough down through the years.”
