This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A large haul of guns and ammunition has been found buried on a National Trust property on the eastern outskirts of Belfast.

The munitions were found on the Lisnabreeny estate in the Castlereagh area on Saturday morning during a major security operation which began at teatime on Friday in the Manse Road area of Castlereagh.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokesman said the 16 handguns and 800 rounds of ammunition had been taken away for forensic examination. Security sources said the haul was one of the biggest they had recovered in years.

The find is close to loyalist east Belfast and it is likely the weaponry belongs to the Ulster Volunteer Force, the terror group which is still active in orchestrating street violence connected to the flag protests and the banning of contentious Orange marches through the summer.

The Democratic Unionist assembly member Jimmy Spratt commended the police for finding the guns and ammunition, and hit out at those who had buried the weapons on National Trust property.

"Lisnabreeny House is owned by the National Trust and is in an area where many people walk on a daily basis, and only a short distance from Lagan college," the South Belfast DUP assembly member said.

"It is a very worrying development that these arms have been found there. I would urge anyone who noticed any suspicious activity or has any information to pass it on to the PSNI immediately."

The PSNI also had to deal overnight with a bomb alert in the County Antrim village of Rasharkin. Army bomb disposal experts were called into Rasharkin to deal with the device.

A PSNI spokesman said a pipe bomb was found in the village after what he described as a "proactive operation".

Police in Belfast are on high alert in preparation for the final weekend of the marching season. Republican dissidents are staging a commemorative rally in north Belfast on Sunday afternoon while loyalists are holding a counter-demonstration against the parade in nearby Carlisle Circus and the Lower Shankill estate.