A major Garda alert is in place after officers received intelligence that feuding gangsters plan to use acid to target their rivals, as well as investigating gardaí.

Extra security precautions were put in place at two district court sittings in Co Longford last week at the request of a judge who had been made aware of the "extremely dangerous situation" by gardaí.

Officers in the county are dealing with five different feuding gangs in a complicated scenario which has led to armed officers carrying out '24-7' patrols since June.

The acid attack threat is the latest incident in the ongoing warfare.

"Intelligence came in that this was going to be the latest tactic. Gardaí were made aware of a threat by a senior player in one of the gangs that acid was to be thrown on the face of his rivals," a source told the Irish Independent.

"The threat suggested gardaí could also be targeted and that this would happen at a district court sitting when a lot of protagonists in the feud would be in the same location.

"The information was that women would be enlisted to carry the acid in a bottle in their handbags and then throw it in the face of their targets which would of course cause life-changing injuries.

"Of course this is an extremely dangerous situation, but gardaí are on top of it as much as they can be."

Local Garda management has utilised a team of experienced detectives, backed up by one of the country's most proactive community policing units, which has so far managed to prevent a murder, but tensions remain extremely high, according to sources.

Gardaí have codenamed their investigation Operation Stola and so far it has led to more than "1,100 proactive incidents" by gardaí which includes armed checkpoints, bail curfew checks and undercover operations.

There have been 26 arrests for offences ranging from possession of firearms, to stabbings, to assaults and drugs and public order offences.

Sources said the figure is set to rise in the coming weeks.

"The vista of acid attacks is certainly a very unpleasant prospect but these gangs are being watched very closely," a source said.

"During the summer, a small bottle of a corrosive substance was seized by Granard gardaí in an abandoned car in which balaclavas and gloves were also found."

Three gardaí have been injured in the past fortnight, including a brave unarmed female officer who was subjected to a savage assault in an arrest operation. Charges are expected in this investigation and the prime suspect is a juvenile male criminal.

The feuding mobsters are Traveller criminals from five different families who have close links to each other and in some cases are closely related.

Irish Independent