Homemade dummy on M3 bridge sparks Surrey police alert

Image caption The dummy was found hanging from a bridge over the M3 near Lightwater

Pranksters who left a homemade dummy hanging from a bridge over the M3 in Surrey are being sought by police.

Police patrols and a helicopter were sent to the scene near junction three for Lightwater after reports someone had jumped from the bridge.

Surrey roads police tweeted a photo and said: "Some Dummy just hung this Dummy from the M3 J3. Many units sent to search for body including helicopter."

A white van was seen in the area where it was left on Friday night.

'Time wasted'

Officers said they initially responded to a call from a member of the public who said they saw a person jump from a bridge, but gave the wrong location.

"We were searching the bridges in the locations given and called the helicopter to assist. Dummy discovered further back," a message on their Twitter feed said.

They said 15 to 20 minutes was spent searching for a body, but it was still "time wasted".

"May seem funny to some but those units could have been prevented from dealing with a real emergency," they tweeted.