About 11am, the Valla Beach man reported to police he had found what he believed to be a stick of undetonated explosive.

Valla Beach is 120km north of Port Macquarie.

Police, along with the Fire Brigades’ hazardous materials team, assessed the situation and called in the bomb squad from Sydney.

“They couldn’t positively identify the device as an explosive device but agreed it was likely to be,” Senior Constable Steve Cherry said.

“About 9pm they detonated the device with their own explosives, completely destroying the matter.”

Such discoveries aren’t unusual in the region, with locals reportedly finding potential explosive devices along the banks of the creek for 30 years.

“In 1979 a truck rolled over at the site causing a number of explosives to fall into the creek,” Snr Const Cherry said.

“A full clean-up occurred but locals have found similar devices ever since.”