Police closed off a road for two days to investigate a report of a dead body dumped in woods - only to find out it was a discarded sex doll.
Warwickshire Police said it was with “great relief” that the hand and foot spotted poking out of undergrowth turned out to be an inflatable love aid.
The force said it had followed “proper procedure” by sending a forensic pathologist to the woodland near Kineton, and cordoning off a country lane for 31 hours. But the suspected body was actually a “discarded and realistic life-size doll”, a spokesperson added.
A local source told The Sun: “A rambler spotted a woman’s foot and hand poking out of the undergrowth and called the police thinking it was a dead body,”
“The police thought they had a murder investigation on their hands so called in a forensics team. They had an officer manning each end of the road, there were two forensic vans and other investigators hunting for clues.
“When they finally dragged the ‘corpse’ out they realised the blunder. The officers had a big laugh about it. It was a very dirty, broken and overused sex doll.”
Police were positioned at the scene from lunchtime on Tuesday to Wednesday night, according to the source.
A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police said: “It is with great relief that we can announce that the pathologist was able to identify that the foot and hand beneath the bush did in fact belong to a discarded and realistic life-size doll.
“We thank the person who contacted us on discovery - the call was made in good faith - and also we extend our thanks to the local people for their patience while we investigated the matter.”
