POLICE have granted more time to question a man arrested on suspicion of planting a bomb under the car of an exiled loyalist in Bolton.

The man appeared at a brief hearing at Bolton Magistrates Court on Tuesday night where officers were given a further 36 hours to question him.

He was arrested at Manchester Airport on Monday night as he was about to board a flight to Northern Ireland. He has not been named and no other details about him have been released.

The man was taken to an unnamed Greater Manchester police station for questioning about the explosive device, which was discovered last month.

It was planted under a car owned by John "Fat Jackie" Thompson, an associate of ousted Ulster Defence Association boss Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair, near his rented home in Windsor Grove, Halliwell.

Police officers searched a number of addresses in Northern Ireland and Merseyside as part of the operation.

They swooped on premises in the Rathcoole estate on the outskirts of Belfast.

Police also sealed off the house in Moreton, Wirral, in search of explosives.

Forensic tests are still being carried out on the device.