AN ARMY bomb disposal unit was dispatched to a housing estate in Drogheda on Tuesday after a suspicious device was found.
The incident happened in the Moneymore estate at around 9.30pm yesterday.
Gardaí received reports that a suspicious device had been spotted outside a home, and upon inspection they called in the army explosive ordnance disposal unit to deal with it.
In the meantime, a number of houses in the surrounding area were evacuated for safety reasons.
The bomb disposal unit later arrived under garda escort.
After inspecting the device, they deemed it to be a cannister of petrol with wires protruding from it.
It was immediately removed and taken away for further analysis.
A local resident told the Irish Independent the forces provided them with relief:
"It was discovered by pure luck around half nine, it was on a gas box on the street so you can just imagine tell devastation if it had exploded," they said.