A bomb alert at the main postal sorting office in the North early this morning has disrupted the delivery of some A-Level examination results.
British Army bomb experts were called to deal with a suspicious package at the Royal Mail's depot at Mallusk, on the outskirts of Belfast.
The alert lasted two hours and proved to be a hoax. Pupils experiencing postal delays were advised to contact their schools directly.
A-Level results hit all-time high
It has also emerged that A-Level students in the North have pulled further ahead of pupils in England and Wales as exam standards hit an all-time high.
Nearly a third of all sixth-formers received top grades, with girls again outperforming boys.
Out of 30,000 A-Level entries in Northern Ireland, 97.4% achieved A-E passes, compared with 96% in England and Wales.
The number of top grades in the North went up by 1.5% to 30%, with 31.7% of girls awarded A grades compared to 27.8% of boys achieving the top grade.
