Cave Hill country park and Belfast Castle closed due to alert

Police are at the scene of an ongoing security alert in north Belfast.

Entrances to Cave Hill Country Park and Belfast Castle on the Antrim Road have been closed.

The public have been asked to avoid the area at this time.

Residents said they have heard a series of controlled explosions coming from Cave Hill, starting at about 08:00 BST.

One resident, who lives in Downview Park West near the country park, said police were patrolling the gates from about 21:20 BST on Tuesday night.

The man said a cordon was set up at the nearby park entrance from early on Wednesday morning as he went to walk his dogs.

Nearby some tourists were disappointed to be unable to visit the castle.

Doug Hayward, from Fort Worth, Texas, had travelled to Belfast Castle with his wife on Wednesday morning after their flight to Edinburgh was cancelled.

“We got stuck at the airport this morning so we came back to Belfast for the day to look around,” he told BBC News NI.

“We’d thought we would come to the castle but it’s closed so I guess we’ll go back to the city centre.”

North Belfast MP John Finucane said both the park and castle entrance on the Antrim Road is closed.

“I would encourage people to avoid the area while this incident is ongoing,” he added.

Belfast City Council said they were aware of a security alert in the area.

BBC News NI has asked the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for comment.