Britain was on a heightened state of security yesterday as police in Birmingham warned there would have been "very serious loss of life" had a car bomb fully exploded on Saturday.
The "very substantial" device, which anti-terrorist police believe was planted by the so-called "Real IRA", contained about 30 kg of home-made explosives.
It did not fully detonate and no one was injured in the city centre explosion, but it was similar in size to car bombs which exploded in Ealing and outside BBC headquarters in London this year, both of which were blamed on the "Real IRA".
The timing of the bomb was also significant, coming within hours of the RUC's name change to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and difficulties in the political process.
The device was planted in a highly symbolic location for the people of Birmingham and in the history of the Troubles, just 100 yards from the site of two IRA explosions 27 years ago.
The city was previously targeted by terrorists in one of the IRA's worst atrocities in Britain, when bombs ripped through two pubs in 1974, killing 21 people and injuring 162.
Speaking at the scene yesterday, the Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Mr Chris Sims, left the public in no doubt as to the threat to life posed by the bomb which, he said, fitted a "pattern of events" involving dissident republican groups.
"Had it fully detonated in that busy city centre on a Saturday night, we would have sustained very serious loss of life indeed and serious structural damage to the city," Mr Sims said.
That message was reinforced by the head of the anti-terrorist branch, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Mr Alan Fry, who said he had issued repeated warnings since the Ealing explosion that London was not the only target for dissident republican terrorists.
He said the bomb was not the work of opportunists, but "well-planned for some time".
The security incident began at about 10.13 p.m. on Saturday when a number of organisations "within and beyond" Birmingham received coded warnings indicating a car bomb had been placed at Smallbrook Queensway, a busy street in the city centre.
One of the problems for police, Mr Sims said, was the warnings were "ambiguous and difficult to interpret" and they did not give police officers sufficient time to clear the area. He appealed for help from anyone who recognised the vehicle or who was at the scene of the explosion.
Shortly afterwards, at 10.39 p.m., part of the device, believed to be the detonator, exploded in the rear of a beige Audi CoupΘ.
The area around the car, where thousands of people were enjoying a night out in restaurants, bars and nightclubs, was evacuated and an army bomb disposal squad made the device safe. The car was taken away yesterday afternoon following a forensic examination but last night several roads close to the scene of the blast remained closed.
Police have ruled out any link to the September 11th attacks, despite initial reports of a powdered substance feared to be anthrax coming from the back of the car.
Confirming his belief that dissident republicans were responsible, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, said earlier the people who planted the bomb were intent on wrecking the peace process. "In discussion with my colleagues in Great Britain, even though it is at an early stage, we do believe it is a dissident grouping, probably that group that is behind this. They want to demonstrate that they are still there," he told BBC's television's Breakfast with Frost.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr John Reid, said last night: "Those responsible for the car bomb attack in Birmingham have absolutely nothing to offer but violence and destruction. We must redouble our efforts to protect those political institutions that can take us forward to stability through democratic politics."