Armed police were put on full alert after reports of a man being seen walking in Keighley with a sawn-off shotgun.

The man was challenged by specialist firearms officers, who discovered it was a convincing replica.

The owner had not been aware of the concern he had caused, and voluntarily handed over the "weapon".

No action was taken against him, but police are warning people to think twice about buying such items.

Detective Chief Inspector Roger Gasson, of Keighley police, said: "If anybody has one of these or other replica type firearms, do not display them in public. This could result in you being confronted by firearms officers.

"We are not talking about brightly coloured toys which are obviously not genuine; we are talking about items which are extremely good replicas which could easily be mistaken as being a real firearm.

"Anyone who does purchase one of these toys, and anyone who displays this type of toy in public, must be aware of the consequences that might follow, and I ask that people don't buy these toys for their children."

Some replica guns are designed to be almost an exact match to the real thing and it is almost impossible for police to be able to tell the difference.

Incidents of Police responding to calls from frightened members of the public about such items have often ended in tragedy.

A month-long amnesty for real and fake firearms was launched by West Yorkshire Police in January and ends at midnight on February 11.

People can anonymously dump their weapons in wheelie bins at Keighley and other police stations in the district.