At first glance, it seemed a major police operation was underway close to Baypark Stadium in Mount Maunganui yesterday – so much so that one reader rang SunLive to describe the scene as more than 10 police cars, complete with dogs, descended on the area.

But there was no large-scale raid, and no doors were taken off their hinges.

AOS training at Truman Lane yesterday. Photo: Andrew Campbell.

Around a dozen squad members were practicing the essential skills and drills involved in house clearances and searches at the house removals yard in Truman Lane.

'It's just part of our regular armed offender squad training,” says squad leader Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair.

'We used the house removals site to simulate the training to be as realistic as possible.”

He didn't want to say how often the squad trains – but did reveal that it is a regular occurrence in various venues throughout the region.

And the Tauranga armed offenders squad are always on the lookout for large, vacant buildings that would make ideal training venues.

'Something a little bit unique,” explains Karl, 'or a large building that's vacant that could be used for that type of training. We are always interested to know about places like this.

'We use various venues around the place. We appreciate the community allowing us to use such venues, so that when we do our job, the community is as safe as possible.”