The four men were told to leave in a call to St Brigid's parochial house in Carnhill last Saturday night. The caller claimed to be from a dissident republican organisation and used a codeword. It is understood that all four men have now left the city. It is not yet clear which republican group is behind the threat.

One of the men told to leave the city is alleged to have been accused of last week's indecent assault on a mother pushing a pram in the
Galliagh area.

Fr Joseph Gormely, from St Brigid's, condemned the threats, describing the incident as a "throwback to the past."

"A caller rang the parochial house with four names and demanded they leave the town or they would be executed," he said. "This is the language of terror. This is a strong community and the people here don't want anti-social behaviour and the people behind these threats are exploiting the desire of the local community to be rid of anti-social behaviour and they are doing so for their own power. This is akin to what the Nazis did in Germany."