Thankfully, the object ended up being no more than a discarded electrical component but residents could have been forgiven for thinking something much more sinister was afoot around McDonald Road.

The road was closed to traffic for several hours after 10am yesterday, after a local resident reported finding the small package in the gutter near the Alldis Avenue intersection.

Police took the precaution of closing McDonald Road between Prune and Bownds streets, and part of Alldis Avenue, with at least six officers standing guard and turning drivers away.

Unable to determine what was inside the object, police called for the experts from the bomb squad in Sydney.

But Insp David Cottee said that upon further consultation and advice from the bomb squad, local officers were able to dismantle the device themselves.

It was found to be completely innocuous.

“We think someone was using it for something else and then just discarded it,” he said.

“I don’t think there was any intention to make it look like a bomb.”

Insp Cottee described the package as “reasonably small” and homemade, though there were some electric components visible.

He said that while police had treated the object as suspicious and potentially dangerous, its size and location meant there was no need to evacuate the area.

“We are restricting access to the immediate area but people are perfectly safe within their own homes,” he said in the hours immediately after it was reported.

“It may or may not be an IED (improvised explosive device) but we are treating it as such.

“There is no indication it will set off but it is difficult to assess what the contents are.

“There is no motive at this stage — it could be an elaborate hoax.”