HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia's Justice Department says it took the rare step this week of ordering the removal of metal barricades from a home in Nine Mile River that had been part of a police investigation.

The government says it's the first time its Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act was used to remove excessive fortifications from a property.

The legislation, enacted in 2007, is more commonly used to evict people from properties where illegal activities are taking place.

The government says it was asked to intervene after police found heavy metal bars installed across the doors of a home they were searching on Renfrew Road following an attempted murder on New Year's Eve.

Acting Justice Minister Maurice Smith says barricades are often intended to prevent police from entering a premises and endanger emergency responders.

The government says the owners of the property co-operated with the order and workers removed three metal barricades from the home on Wednesday.