A large police presence was seen in Saltford yesterday evening after reports that a body had been spotted in the river.
A boat owner called police to report a suspicious body-sized package tangled in trees in the river at The Shallows at around 4.30pm.
Two fire engines from Avon Fire and Rescue attended the scene with their rescue boat and police forensic vans arrived to begin enquiries and recover the body.
Officers were baffled when the body recovered turned out to be a dummy. It was initially thought to be one of the two that were lost when Les Miserables was filmed on Pulteney Weir in Bath last year, but this has been ruled out due to the homemade nature of it.
The mass response from emergency services to the scene had many local residents fearing for the safety of children who had been seen playing near the river during the day.
The scene was vacated by the emergency services at around 7pm.
