Third arrest in Pc murder bid probe

Detectives investigating the attempted murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland have made a third arrest.

A 41-year-old man was detained in west Belfast on Tuesday evening.

Two others, aged 25 and 34, were arrested in Belfast on Monday and are still in police custody.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) constable was preparing to take his wife and two children out for Sunday lunch when he discovered a bomb under his car at his home in Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast.

Senior officers have said the attack could have killed the policeman and his family.

Police are on high alert after dissident republicans attempted to murder the officer with a car bomb and a second explosive device was discovered near a police station.

The under-car device was a tactic frequently used by the Provisonal IRA.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton said the officer's vigilance saved lives.

"If that officer had not checked under his car, we would have been looking at a murder or multiple murders," Mr Hamilton said.

Dissident republicans are being blamed for the attack.