Police are responding to a reported sighting of a man with a rifle in Mt Victoria.

Police were patrolling the central Wellington suburb of Mt Victoria after reports of a man being seen with a gun.

A police spokesman said a call came in at 6.18pm from someone who spotted a man apparently carrying a rifle in Pirie St.

But at around 8.30pm, officers said the call was a false alarm and the units involved were stood down.

The armed offenders squad was not called in to deal with the situation.

A Mt Victoria resident said that police with firearms had been stationed along the base of the hill, parked on roads below the town belt.