Oslo - A man was arrested Wednesday after threating to detonate a homemade bomb outside a police station north-east of Oslo, police said.

The bomb that was placed in a car could have caused "sizeable damage," Lorenskog police told reporters a few hours after the incident.

The motive was not clear but the man, in his 30s, was apparently linked to an ongoing criminal probe, news reports said.

Several buildings including sections of a shopping centre were evacuated during incident. The man was subsequently persuaded to surrender. (dpa)