‘Nothing like this happens here’: Dural residents thought mystery caravan could be part of council cleanup – until bomb squad arrived

Outside a property in Dural, NSW, where a caravan was found laden with explosives. The residents are not accused of any wrongdoing. Photograph: Caitlin Cassidy/The Guardian

When residents of a sleepy semi-rural street in Sydney’s north-west spotted a caravan on the side of the road last year, some thought it was part of a council cleanup.

Others later hypothesised the vehicle had been stolen and abandoned, or was home to a squatter.