"A 25-year-old man has been arrested and Bomb Response Unit officers are conducting a safety check. Businesses in the area have been evacuated and Racecourse Road has been blocked to traffic and trams between Flemington Road and Boundary Road," the Victoria Police said in a statement published on Facebook.

The statement followed a news release, saying that the security officers had located a man with the unknown device about 10:00 a.m. (midnight GMT) on Thursday.

The police subsequently issued an update, saying that they had declared the area safe and re-opened the road.