Second bomb scare in Dunedin

Dunedin's second bomb scare in 24 hours has closed State Highway 1 south of the city.

The road was closed around 10am after police found what was described an improvised explosive device under an overbridge on the Green Island motorway near Dunedin, Police Sergeant Chris George said.

"The motorway has been closed from Burnside to the far end of Green Island and the bomb squad has been summonsed, and are on their way," he said.

He said that being the main highway south of Dunedin there were "bound to be" traffic delays.

The road was not expected to reopen before 3pm.

The incident was "major hassle," Mr George said.

The incident comes just 24 hours after Dunedin airport was closed due to a hoax bomb being discovered in toilets at Dunedin International Airpoprt yesterday morning.

Mr George said that was not known at this stage if the two incidents were linked.

- NZPA