Strabane man Willie Gallagher made the comment after a series of arrests and house searches in the town over the last week connected with the investigation into the murder of nightclub doorman Bryan McGlynn.

Mr Gallagher, who was arrested as part of the investigation last Monday and held for two days, claims the wife of a man arrested in Strabane on Wednesday morning, was told her house will be raided regularly if she didn't agree to provide information to the PSNI.

"The PSNI arrived at this woman's house on Wednesday morning to arrest her husband and, while they were doing this, they took her into a room and asked her to become a police informer.

She told me she was asked to provide information about me and a number of other people.

"She was also asked about republican meetings held in Toome.

"She said the police told her she would be relocated along with her family if she agreed.

"She was also told if she did not agree that she would need to get used to raids as they would be coming to her house regularly," he said.

The IRSP man said he believes the incident is one of a number of attempts to recruit informers. "We have noticed an upsurge in approaches to people to act as informers and we are sure that it is because the authorities are frightened by the idea of republican unity," he said.

A PSNI spokesperson said: "We do not comment on specific intelligence matters and no inference should be drawn from this."