Armed police at raid on Rotorua home

Residents of a Rotorua cul-de-sac were told to stay indoors yesterday as police and the Armed Offenders Squad raided a home in what residents suspect was a P lab bust.

Edward Payton Grove was blocked off when about nine police vehicles, an ambulance and three fire appliances, including a hazardous materials vehicle converged on the quiet street about 1.30pm yesterday.

Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said he could not comment on the operation except to say the deployment of the AOS was largely a precautionary measure in line with standard police procedures.

A man and woman were led to a decontamination shower and after being showered were given white plastic boilersuits to wear. They were taken away by police at about 2.30pm and a car was later towed away from the property which had been raided.

A man who didn't want to be identified said he'd left his house for a while and returned to find the street was blocked.

"I thought this was a safe street."

The man said it was the second time the Armed Offenders Squad had been in the street with another incident last December.

Resident John Sorensen said it was obvious it was a P lab bust. At about 1.30pm he saw the Armed Offenders Squad lining up outside and thought "something's going down".

His daughter, who wouldn't be identified, said she wasn't frightened.

"We had the armed offenders squad here six months ago. This isn't a bad area and just goes to prove these P labs can be anywhere."

Another resident, who asked to be identified only as Peter, said he was surprised to see police going down an adjacent driveway.

"I just had my lunch, looked out my window and saw something straight out of a gangster movie.

"The police were running around with full gear on and machine guns and I thought 'oh no, not again'."

Working in Edward Payton Grove, Idea Service community support worker Sandra McGhie said police told her to keep clients indoors. They said nobody would be allowed in or out of the street until the all-clear was given.

She didn't know what was going on but said there were four fire appliances, five police cars, two police vans and a dog unit in the street.

"We've been told to stay inside."

Ms McGhie said police set up a decontamination unit at the end of the grove, leaving her to suspect it was possibly drug related.

"I think it must be a P house," she said.