Updated at 13.37

POLICE IN SYDNEY have removed a suspected bomb that was strapped to the neck of a teenage girl at a multimillion dollar home in the city.

It is not yet known how the device was attached to the girl at her home in Burrawong Avenue in Mosman, but it is understood that she did not place it there herself, the Herald Sun reports. A senior member of police told journalists earlier that they believe it was an extortion attempt; the 18-year-old is a member of one of Australia’s wealthiest families.

After a “delicate operation” lasting approximately ten hours, bomb experts managed to remove the device from the girl’s neck.

At a press conference after the teenager was released, police said that they were still unsure whether the “very elaborate” device was viable or not, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Mark Scott.

Police said that the young woman had disclosed a lot of information to police which investigators were now acting upon. The motive for the attack is not yet clear but the authorities said they “want to get [their] hands on who has done this – and pretty smartly”.

The girl has now been reunited with her parents.

The device, described as a “collar bomb”, has not been seen in Australia before according to police.