In a museum (not) far, far away... stormtrooper sparks gun alert

POLICE were called to Torquay Museum to deal with a man carrying a 'gun' — only to find a Stormtrooper taking part in a sci-fi exhibition.

They saw the funny side when the Star Wars character turned out to be an off-duty colleague.
His weapon was, in fact, a harmless movie 'blaster' adapted from a British submachine gun and his costume a replica of those in the 1977 George Lucas film.

The volunteer had been walking about at the front of the museum to publicise its Sci-Fi at the Movies exhibition.

But an 'over-zealous' member of the public failed to spot he was part of the interactive show and called the police.

Museum spokesman Carl Smith said: "It's a really big exhibition with props and costumes from some big movies and there is a large Star Wars component we've been promoting and making interactive with volunteers.

"They dress in Star Wars costumes and we have two Stormtroopers that are exact replicas of the originals made by the guy who made the original costumes and each has a blaster.

"We've had the Stormtroopers wandering around the building and on to the main forecourt and some slightly over zealous person saw them in costumes and phoned the police.

"I suspect they weren't familiar with the film.

"Two police officers arrived but they obviously realised what was going on.

"The irony was the volunteer was a police officer himself."

Police confirmed they had been called to the museum.

A spokesman said: "It was a report of a man carrying guns.

"We had to check it out on that basis and, of course, they weren't really guns."