A live hand grenade a man took to Hastings Police Station yesterday has been disarmed, police say, and it will now be examined by the military.
A Hastings man walked into the police station with a live grenade about 11am yesterday, forcing the evacuation of a city block and requiring the expertise of the Army's bomb squad.
Senior Sergeant Nick Dobson said the man found the explosive device wrapped in plastic material in his back garden, and took it into the station along Railway Rd.
The building was promptly evacuated, and police took precautions as they sealed off a city block, which included the Hastings District Court.
The Defence Force bomb squad was dispatched from Wellington and arrived in Hastings by road about 3.25pm. Shortly after a member of the squad suited up and entered the station from Market St in an attempt to disarm the weapon.