A man who wears a supportive back brace was mistaken for a suicide bomber in an explosive vest, sparking a terror alert.

Hinesh Vegad said a member of the public dialled 999 to report an ‘Asian man wearing body armour which was packed at the bottom with wires hanging out’ after he popped out of work on a lunch break.

The size of the 25-year-old’s brace – worn after he injured two vertebrae in a paintballing accident – makes it difficult for him to wear jumpers or even coats.

Hinesh – who praised the way GMP responded to and dealt with the misunderstanding – was on a busy shopping street in Westhoughton, Bolton, at the time.

Police attended but, luckily, a friend told two officers about Hinesh’s situation and they rang him to clear up the unfortunate situation.

Hinesh, from Heaton, Bolton, said the officers told him he had caused ‘quite a stir’ and later paid him a personal visit, where they posed with him on a picture which illustrates the size of his bulky brace.

Hinesh said: “I had no idea what was going on until I received a phone call from police explaining that they’d received reports of a man acting suspiciously. Luckily, they had spoken to my friend who works in a sandwich shop when they arrived on the high street to warn people. She told them that it was me and that I wear a back brace for my injury, and passed my contact details on.

“Looking back, I can totally see the funny side of the situation, but that’s because it was handled correctly. The police officers were friendly.

“They said they knew it was nothing to be worried about after speaking to my friend, but they had to come and confirm that it was me that was in the CCTV footage.”

Police confirmed they responded to a report of ‘concerns about a man in Westhoughton town centre’, but said the situation was quickly resolved after they spoke to him.