Joe Biden's historic visit to Northern Ireland has been hit by a security scare after a shocked member of the public found a top secret document in the street in Belfast.
Security plans around the US President's trip were thrown into question after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed a security breach around his visit to Belfast, the nation's capital.
And it was only discovered when this this morning the BBC Radio Ulster Nolan Show revealed the police document was found by a man in the street.
The police document showed a detailed itinerary of the US President's trip and officer deployments, including the names of all PSNI officers involved in the security operation, plus phone numbers and addresses of top PSNI officers.
A PSNI spokesman said "We are aware of a security breach.
"An investigation has commenced and we have notified the Senior Information Risk Officer.
"We take the safety of visiting dignitaries, members of the public and our officers and staff extremely seriously and will put the appropriate actions in place."
A huge security operation was launched for the President's visit to Northern Ireland for the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
More than 300 additional police officers have been directed to the country from the rest of the UK.
The Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) has prepared a “ring of steel” around President Biden’s visit, warning of significant traffic disruption in the capital Belfast.
Pipe bombs were discovered in a cemetery in Derry following an illegal dissident republican parade in the city on Monday.
The parade saw petrol bombs thrown at an armoured police van, with the PSNI appealing for calm.
PSNI said no officers had been injured in the violent scenes. The parade was considered illegal as police had not been notified about plans.
The discovery of the bombs, described by police as a "sinister and worrying development", came as the US President was greeted by Rishi Sunak after he arrived on Air Force One.
President Biden, whose visit is to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, said earlier today that the main purpose of his trip was to “keep the peace, that’s the main thing”.
There has been a £7million security clampdown for President Biden’s day-long visit as part of celebrations for the anniversary of the historic 1998 peace deal.
Mr Biden and Mr Sunak are set to hold one-on-one talks.
The US President also gave an address at Ulster University.
Downing Street appeared to play down the prospect of an imminent UK-US free trade deal.
Asked whether progress could be expected to be made, a No 10 spokesman said: "A free trade agreement is not the only way of strengthening the UK-US trade relationship.
"We already have an incredibly good level of trade with the US which we've spoken about before. I believe it's already worth £223billion a year.”
Mr Biden will travel to the Republic of Ireland later in his trip, where he will carry out a number of engagements during his four-day stay, including visiting Co Louth and Co Mayo, from where his ancestors hail.
