Hamilton bomb a fizzer as bomb squad give all clear

A piece of military ordnance buried under a central Hamilton home that was discovered by house movers today has been declared harmless by explosive experts.

Shift Manager, Senior Sergeant Andrew O'Reilly, said Police were called to a Willoughby St address about 10.40am after workman discovered a mortar bomb.

"The workers did the right thing by leaving the munitions in place and calling Police. Officers arrived and set up a cordon, evacuating local residents.

"An Auckland based Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from the New Zealand Defence Force were called in to expect the device and declared the bomb inert and the area safe about 2.15pm."

Mr O'Reilly said Police had no doubt local residents, motorists, child care centres and a local school were inconvenienced by the road closures and evacuations but in such situations emergency services have no option but to take precautionary measures.

"We have to prepare for the worst to prevent injury or death, thankfully this wasn't the case in this situation and the matter was able to be resolved without incident."