Pota-toe: 'Human foot' in field turns out to be potato

In the English town Gateshead, a dog walker found what appeared to be a toe poking out of the soil and took a picture to send it to police.

Police rushed to the scene and carried out an elaborate search.

The specialist dogs cautiously sniffed about the area in the dark only to discover that the suspicious toe looking thing was a potato with a mushroom growing next to it, reports BBC.

However, police praised the woman for her "vigilance" and appreciated the call she made in "good faith".

Northumbria Police said the photograph, sent on Tuesday when the woman had returned home from her walk in the Winlaton area, "did show what appeared to be a human foot".

Inspector Phil Hamlani said, "The person who called this in was very concerned and in the picture, she sent us the object did look like it could be human remains.

It was already dark by the time we got a call and so we had to deploy search teams to track down the scene to rule out any foul play.

"The search team did have a chuckle when they realized it was a potato, but the call was made in good faith and we can only praise the vigilance of the woman who made the call."