Army bomb experts have defused a pipe bomb on the Antrim Road in north Belfast.

The device was discovered near the gates of Belfast Castle on Friday night.

Several functions, including a wedding, were being held at the time, but they were not affected by the security operation.

Meanwhile, a suspect device discovered in east Belfast has been declared a hoax.

It was found under a car at Dunraven Drive in the Bloomfield area.

On Friday, the Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble called on the RUC chief constable to state who is behind recent attacks in Northern Ireland, including an attempted car bombing.

Mr Trimble said the police had been remarkably reluctant to say if paramilitary groups were behind recent shootings and bombings.

An incendiary type car bomb was discovered and defused in Ballycastle, County Antrim, during the Auld Lammas Fair on Tuesday.

There have also been pipe bomb attacks on Catholic homes across Northern Ireland.