The bomb planted under a pickup truck in Fgura had a potential blast radius in excess of 50 metres, The Times has learnt.

Passers-by well away from the Toyota Hilux which was loaded with a kilo of explosives would have been at risk, particularly because the explosion would have generated a huge amount of flying shrapnel.

The device was made of three welded metal cylinders packed with explosive material and was attached to a mobile phone. It was placed under the grey vehicle belonging to Pawlu Degabriele in 14th December 1945 Street in Fgura at around 2am on Tuesday.

It was later defused by army personnel at their Pembroke ranges and the explosive material found inside is being tested. It is believed that the explosive components also include pyrotechnic material.

The handmade device required “no special level of expertise” to make and the materials were easily available, sources said.

The mobile phone attached to the bomb is also being examined, according to sources. Explosives specialists are trying to establish whether the bomb was designed to be triggered through a phone call or through the phone’s alarm function, which would have acted as a timer, sources said.

A friend of Mr Degabriele had alerted him to the fact that two men wearing hooded tops were acting suspiciously next to his vehicle at around 2.30am. He messaged him but Mr Degabriele only saw it in the morning and called the police.

The police have taken footage from a CCTV camera positioned outside Mr Degabriele’s house which, the sources said, showed two men next to his car. The hood of one man dropped, exposing his face but sources said it was very hard to identify anyone. It is believed there was a third man, waiting in a getaway car.

Additional reporting by Kurt Sansone.