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ATHENS (Reuters) - A small explosion occurred outside a police station at a British base in Cyprus early on Tuesday, authorities said, adding it was being treated as a criminal investigation.

British base authorities said one police officer suffered “very minor injuries” and there was superficial damage to the entrance of the station at Dhekelia, known as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area.

The area in the south-east of Cyprus is freely accessible to members of the public.

“There are scene of crime investigators there now to find out exactly what caused the explosion. It is being treated as a criminal investigation at the moment,” a spokesman for the bases said.

Britain retains sovereignty over some 99 square kilometers of territory on Cyprus, a colony until 1960. While some of it is accessible only to military personnel, it also includes areas where thousands of Cypriots live.