Explosion after suspicious object found

Police have carried out a controlled explosion after officers on patrol found a suspicious object.

The discovery on Barton Road in Barton Seagrave near Kettering on Friday 1 April 2011 comes after two other suspicious packages were found in north Northamptonshire in the previous week.

The device found was a small piece of pipe.  Police say "due to the nature of recent incidents," officers raised the find with senior officers who asked bomb disposal teams for advice.

"The advice given has been that for the safety and security of all, to conduct a small controlled explosion which happened at 8.45pm on Friday 1 April.  The action was precautionary and there is no risk to local residents."

One of the previous finds of suspicious devices was in Corby at around 5pm on Thursday 31 March, when a package was found in a small wooded area near houses on Alberta Close.  RAF bomb disposal experts and the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit conducted an assessment of the package and decided there were no explosives inside.

Before that, Cottingham Road in Corby was closed off on the morning Monday 28 March 2011 after a suspicious package was found in a boating lake.  Police aren't linking these last two incidents.

Northamptonshire Police say "we always take matters of this nature very seriously as the safety of the public is our primary concern."