An apparent sighting of a man with a gun sparked a search of Colchester from the skies.
A witness told police they had seen the man in Wimpole Road, New Town.
Officers were sent out to do a search but they could not find anything, so the Essex Police helicopter was scrambled to scour the area.
Still no trace was found and police are treating the sighting, reported at about 9pm on Wednesday, as a mistake.
A force spokesman said: "We're not treating it as a hoax, we think it must have been a misunderstanding because we didn't find anyone with anything like that.
Published Monday August 16, 2004
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