A central Wellington hotel and a commercial building were evacuated for a short time in the city last night while Army bomb disposal experts dealt with what turned out to be a discarded pizza delivery bag.
Inspector Marty Grenfell, Wellington Police Area Controller, said police were called about 8pm after what was thought to be a suspicious package was found outside Radio New Zealand House on The Terrace.
Police investigated and, erring on the side of caution, called out the bomb disposal experts who undertook a controlled detonation.
"Some members of the public were inconvenienced during the evacuation but it’s better to be safe than sorry," Mr Grenfell said. "We adopt a standard safety response in these situations which involves calling in the Army disposal experts."
Last night’s incident was the third time in the last ten days that unattended packages have been detonated. The earlier ones were both in Lower Hutt.
"While the number of callouts is unusual it probably reflects the heightened sense of awareness amongst the public when they see unattended packages.
"Our response to these situations has not changed. Public safety comes first," Mr Grenfell said. "We would however encourage people to think carefully about where they leave their belongings."