BBC

Sunday, 15 April, 2001, 04:01 GMT 05:01 UK

Real IRA linked to post office blast

Edgware Road was cordoned off after the blast A suspected terrorist bomb packed with high explosives has blown out windows at a post office delivery depot in north London.

The blast, at 2328BST on Saturday, is thought to have been the work of dissident Irish republican terror group the Real IRA.

Police say no one was injured in the explosion, which caused "minor" damage to the building at The Hyde, in Hendon.

The blast comes just six weeks after a bomb, believed to have been planted by the same group, exploded outside BBC Television Centre in west London.

But unlike previous attacks thought to be linked to the Real IRA, police say that no coded warning was received before the Hendon device exploded.

Speaking at the scene, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry, head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, said: "No threats were made. We suspect it was the work of the Real IRA.

"A high explosive device was placed outside the sorting office in a bricked-up former doorway.

"We believe it contained between half and one pound of high explosives, which was a similar size to the device at Hammersmith Bridge in June last year.

"Minor damage was caused to the building."

Although no one was in the delivery depot at the time, Mr Fry said the building was near a pub and the busy Edgware Road.

"Whoever planted this device had no thought to the damage or injuries he may have caused," he added.

Mr Fry said the area would be searched in daylight, but added that Edgware Road would probably be closed for the rest of Sunday.

A spokesman for Consignia, formerly the Post Office, said the building was a small delivery office dealing with mail for the NW9 area, and one of 100 similar-sized buildings in London.

BBC bomb

Police are still investigating the bomb which exploded outside BBC TV Centre in Wood Lane, White City, on 3 March.

The device - planted inside a taxi - detonated as bomb disposal experts attempted to carry out a controlled explosion on the vehicle.

One London Underground worker suffered minor injuries in the attack.

Warnings before the blast, issued to a London hospital and an unnamed charity, gave the same codeword as when a device was planted on the railway line at Acton, west London, last year.

At the time Mr Fry said he feared it was the escalation of a Real IRA terror campaign on mainland Britain.

He said: "We have been predicting, since Christmas, that the mainland, and London in particular, were to be subject to terrorist attacks."

Police have appealed for anyone who was in the area in the time leading up to the post office explosion or who may have seen something to contact the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789321.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001