Part of a street around a fortified Hastings motorbike clubhouse was cordoned-off yesterday after police found possible further evidence of explosives in searches following a weekend hand-grenade alert.
Police had been searching properties neighbouring the Highway 61 Motorcycle Club in Albert St, Mayfair, for most of the morning when another suspect item was found on a vacant, gravelled parking area between the clubhouse and the Hastings Orphans Club. There was no evidence to say where the items came from.
A cordon covering the frontages of the clubhouse and the vacant sections on either side was extended to include both sides of the street between Miller St and Hastings St about noon yesterday, after bomb squad and specialist search group members discovered the item.
It was later found to be "nothing," said Detective Sergeant Brent Greville of Hawke's Bay CIB.
A small number of people were evacuated from properties in the street for about two hours during yesterday's extended search, which ended about 2pm and included the use of a specially trained dog.