Pipe bomb found in suspicious car at Bayswater

Image: Katherine Firkin, Channel 10

Police have exploded a pipe bomb found in a car at Bayswater.

The bomb squad was called after the discovery of the suspicious device in a stolen car in Melbourne’s outer-east.

Patrolling police saw the Toyota Echo, which had false number plates, on Mountain Highway at Bayswater a short time after 2.30am.

They searched the car and found a number of suspicious items, prompting the officers to call upon the Bomb Response Unit as a precaution.

Detectives search a Toyota Echo after a pipe bomb was found in the car at Bayswater this morning #tennews pic.twitter.com/vezQ3Xuddy

— Katherine Firkin (@KatherineFirkin) January 10, 2018

The controlled explosion occurred about 7am.

Police have since said the device was not explosive.

A man and a woman had earlier been seen with the Toyota.

The woman was arrested and is helping police with their investigation, but the man remains on the run.

The Mountain Highway was closed between Scoresby Road and High Street for several hours

Access to Bayswater train station was also closed.

All roads are now open.

 

Click PLAY to hear Channel Seven’s Michael Scanlan cross live from bomb squad operation