Bomb squad defuses grenade in NSW city

Bomb experts have safely removed an old grenade which shut down the centre of a southwest NSW city for most of the day.

A council worker found the WWII explosive in a parking lot on the main street of Griffith at about 8.30am on Thursday.

Police set up a 300m evacuation zone around the main street, Banna Ave, while a defence force disposal unit travelled from Canberra.

The bomb experts arrived on scene and defused the grenade about 3.20pm, before streets were reopened.

It's believed the grenade fell off a truck being used by a local man to clean out his grandfather's shed.