Armed police rushed to the scene of a bloody axe attack - only to find four young movie-makers doused in fake blood shooting a zombie film.

The officers responded to a desperate 999 call this afternoon from a  woman who reported seeing three boys with an axe standing over another, covered in blood. 

A team was immediately deployed to a park by Prince of Wales Mansions in Harrogate - but the victims were nowhere to be found.

After 45 minutes of searching garages and bins, they knocked on the door of a house, answered by a teenager doused in fake red blood.

Laughing, he confessed his friends were making an amateur zombie film

This afternoon, controllers at North Yorkshire Police tweeted: '999 call reporting an axe attack in #Harrogate. Several officers at scene. Turns out 4 youths making a zombie film using fake blood.'

Twitter users rushed to mock the incident.

One user wrote: 'People are far too sensitive here.'

Another said: 'Nice to see my old stomping grounds of Harrogate haven't lost their lacking sense of humour.'

Seeing the funny side, the control room team responded by tweeting: 'It could have had #Grave consequences though! Glad it was a call with good intent.'

It is the latest bizarre police phone call to hit the news. This time last year, a toy panther in Peterborough sparked a city-wide hunt for a wild cat on the loose.

In September, police in Northampton spent days trying to find a phantom clown haunting the town and scaring residents - before a student admitted he was dressed up as a joke.

And figures released by police forces around the country on December 27 revealed hundreds of people call 999 every year to report supernatural activity.

(dailymail.co.uk)

ANN.Az