A CRUDE firebomb sent to a top Preston judge in the mail is the latest in a number of similar devices delivered to addresses in Lancashire.

Bomb squad experts were called to Preston Crown Court on Tuesday morning when staff became suspicious about an envelope addressed to Judge Reginald Lockett.

The court was not evacuated while the device was taken into the court car park and defused.

A spokesman for the Crown Court said: "The member of staff became suspicious after seeing something inside that did not look like paper."

Bomb disposal experts from Liverpool defused the device.

A police spokesman said: "We are currently investigating a number of incidents where crude incendiary devices have been sent by mail to a number of addresses in Lancashire."

Two of the devices were discovered at Lancashire Police Headquarters in Hutton.

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