Police in Germany were relieved when a call about a potential unexploded Second World War bomb turned out to actually be a monster courgette.

A worried 81-year-old called police when he spotted the 16inch (40cm) vegetable- also known as a zucchini - in his garden.

Police rushed to the scene in Bretten, near the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, and quickly established it was nothing to be afraid of.

Officers who responded to the callout said the summer squash “really did look very like a bomb”.

The offending vegetable, which was very dark in colour, weighed about 11lb (5kg). Police believe someone threw it over a hedge into the garden.

“A homeowner excitedly rang Bretten police station and said that he had found a World War II bomb in his garden,” police said (translated).

“As it turned out to be a vegetable, the bomb disposal unit did not have to be called.

“The zucchini must have been thrown by an unknown person over the garden hedge of the ultimately relieved man, who took care of their disposal himself.”

Unexploded wartime bombs are unearthed frequently during construction work in Germany, often forcing authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents while they are defused.