Mall bomb threat targeted bank staff

Glenfield Mall on Auckland's North Shore has been evacuated following two bomb threats this morning. Photo / Richard Robinson

A North Shore mall was evacuated today after a man called an ASB staff member and said he had put a bomb in their car.

Police want public help to identify the man, who called from a Birkenhead payphone this morning.

The offender called the staff member at their home in Glenfield and also said other devices may have been put into cars belonging to colleagues, Detective Steve Pivac said.

Police were alerted to the threat about 8.40am.

A specialist police team checked vehicles at the house and found no devices.

They then began checking the secondary threat to ASB staff members, whose vehicles were parked at the Glenfield Mall, Mr Pivac told NZPA.

The mall was evacuated this afternoon.

Mr Pivac believed about six or seven vehicles had been checked in total and no devices had been found.

Police were still finishing up at the mall late this afternoon and it remained evacuated.

"They had to locate a number of cars ... in the mall and then identify them and then clear them, so it just took some time."

Mr Pivac did not know why the man had threatened the staff.

The alleged offender had made the call from a payphone in Birkenhead Avenue, near KFC, he said.

"We urgently want to hear from anyone who saw a male using the payphone around 7am.

"It's a busy time of day with commuters heading to work. We hope someone will have seen something that will help us identify the caller."

- NZPA