A British Army bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion on a device left outside a PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) police station in Belfast.

This is the latest incident in what appears to be a period of renewed instability in the region. This year’s July 12th riots were the worst in several years and there have been several threats against police in the North in the past few weeks.

The device was found in an abandoned vehicle left outside the New Barnsley PSNI station in the west of the city last night.

Approximately 100 families were evacuated from their homes during the alert.

A statement released by the police service has said that the device was a hoax.

It’s the latest in a series of incidents threatening to undermine the fragile peace that holds in the region:

A booby trap bomb was covered under a soldier's car in the Chatsworth cul-de-sac in Bangor, Co.Down.

Police forces in the Republic of Ireland are also focusing renewed efforts on clamping down on Republican Dissidents many of whom are believed to have links to paramilitary operations in the North.

A bomb factory was discovered by Irish police in Dundalk in late May; two were held.