It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of pounds of business was lost when the Craigavon Bridge was sealed off on Friday night after hijackers put a number of items into a van and forced the driver to abandon it on the bridge's lower deck.

Both decks of the bridge remained closed until late on Saturday night. Police have described the incident as a “sophisticated hoax.”

However, PSNI District Commander for Foyle Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin has defended criticisms about the length of time it took police to clear the bridge.

“Every incident has to be looked at on its own merits,” he said.

“There were a number of circumstances that marked this as difficult. The alert was on the lower deck of the bridge in a confined area and we had to consider the integrity of the bridge.

“At the same time, police were dealing with an alert at Strabane PSNI station, and a number of hoax calls suggesting there were other bombs in the city.

“We had no interest in dragging this out. The last thing I wanted was officers out in this situation.

Frustration

“I understand the frustration felt by people but the blame for this lies with those who hijacked the van.”

Manager of Suede Hair Salon in the city centre Ronan Stewart said business was so quiet on Saturday he was forced to send three staff home.

“We had a lot of cancellations,” he said. “Business was down by 75%, in fact we could have closed, it was so quiet.”

Clothing store Benetton also reported a quiet day’s trading.

One worker said: “We had our sale on which normally is very busy. It was a lot quieter on Saturday.”

The Everglades Hotel said some of its staff had difficulty getting into work because of the bridge closure.

“We also had a number of coach tours which were delayed,” a spokesperson for the company said.

Local people also reported long tail backs on the Foyle Bridge on Saturday.

It’s also believed that some taxi firms stopped taking fares because of the traffic chaos.

Jim Roddy, manager of the City Centre Initiative, said the alert had a "devastating impact" on traders.

"Whoever has done this is no friend of the city. The only people they are harming is the people of the city," he said.