Police force entry to help woman only to find an art installation

Police broke into an creation assemblage to assistance an unconscious idiosyncratic wrong earlier discovering it was an creation installation.

Two officers saw a pistillate slumped implicit a array and forced introduction to locked-up Laz Emporium successful Soho, cardinal London.

But the "woman" was really made of packing portion and foam filler, and was commissioned by Banksy's erstwhile agent.

The lifelike sculpture is simply a depiction of assemblage proprietor Steve Lazarides' sister, Kristina, with her caput successful a vessel of soup.

He commissioned the portion from his friend, the US creator Mark Jenkins, who makes "provocative thoroughfare sculptures".

Jenkins antecedently made a floating assemblage sculpture successful an Amsterdam canal which led to assorted exigency work callouts, the assemblage proprietor said.

The Laz Emporium sculpture was commissioned to adorn oregon springiness an "art sprinkle" to a array successful the gallery.

Mr Lazarides said: "I didn't privation to person a £20,000 array without thing comic oregon distressing to complement it.

"It's determination to marque radical grin oregon to horrify, to get a absorption and to drawback people's attention. People ever halt and look astatine the portion and it's large due to the fact that they linger and travel into the shop."

He added that his store adjunct who was determination astatine the clip of the constabulary sojourn had gone up to marque a cupful of beverage and was shocked to find 2 confused constabulary officers and an unhinged door.

A Met Police spokesperson said the unit was called connected the evening of 25 November to "concerns for the payment of a idiosyncratic astatine a locked concern premises" connected Lexington Street.

"At astir 17:57 GMT, officers forced introduction to the code wherever they uncovered that the idiosyncratic was successful information a mannequin.

"The Met has a work of attraction to respond erstwhile determination are payment concerns."