Police say a suspected unexploded bomb found on the banks of the Thames was actually a “giant glittering" Christmas bauble.
The festive item was mistaken for an explosive when it washed up near Wapping, east London.
Tower Hamlets Police tweeted that officers had been called to the scene to investigate "a possible unexploded device that had been washed up on the shore".
But they added: “Luckily, upon closer inspection, it is a giant glittery Christmas bauble!”.
The force completed the post with some festive emojis and a photo of the decoration.
The discovery in Wapping was met with relief and festive cheer, as Twitter users joked: “I bet they thought all their Christmases had come at once!”
It comes less than a week after an unexploded World War Two bomb was discovered in Kingston-upon-Thames, south west London.
Students from Kingston University campus and nearly 1,500 homes had to be evacuated while a specialist team disposed of the device.
A controlled explosion was carried out by armed forces bomb experts, but residents complained that the supervised blast had caused damage to their homes.
