(File photo) Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
A Masterton scrap yard has been reopened after workers found part of what is thought to be a mortar round.
Members of the bomb squad converged on Wairarapa Scrap Metals on Ngaumutawa Road after the projectile was discovered just after 8am.
An owner of the yard said the site was cordoned off and a section of the road closed until the object was determined to be a dummy round.
Wairarapa Scrap Metal co-owner Janice O'Brien said 18 staff were evacuated when the object was found, and she was happy her staff did everything right.
"We've got businesses around us - one of them being a gas place right next door - so you never know. It's better to be safe than sorry in these situations."
Police had asked the public to avoid the area until the cordon was lifted, and O'Brien said the scrap yard was back to business as normal just before 11am.
