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A Jedi, a Mortal Kombat character and an Umbrella Corporation Guard from Resident Evil sparked a response from armed police who cordoned off a road in Rhyl earlier today.

The trio of costume play enthusiasts were taking pictures in a front garden before officers in full riot gear swooped.

Cops from the armed response unit cordoned off Warren Road in Rhyl just after 12pm today (October 3) after reports of three men seen acting suspiciously brandishing what was believed to be a firearm.

But Kevin Cottam, known as the Rhyl Jedi, said it was a plastic BB gun - half the size of a real one.

He and friends, Stephen Oliver and John Sutton decided to carry out some role play after getting together to help a fire-striken family by donating science-fiction memorabilia.

Helping hand

Speaking to the Daily Post, Kevin said: “A group of us from the Cosplay (costume play group) were supposed to be meeting up to help a family around the corner who recently lost everything in a fire, but only two others showed up.

“We decided to try out the costumes I’d made - one was Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat and the other was an Umbrella Corporation Guard from Resident Evil - then there’s me, dressed in my Jedi robes taking pictures in my front yard not thinking anyone would bat an eyelid.

“Still in my robes, I went up the road to the Naval Club to see about some furniture that was being donated and when I came back, armed police were everywhere and I could see lots of officers outside my flat.

“With a finger on the trigger, an officer tells me there’s apparently a guy in full body armour raiding my place.”

The 45-year-old added: “I tried to explain and tell the officer that I knew what it was all about, but I kept getting shooed away.

“I begged him to listen to me and told him it was a plastic gun and that it was my friend dressed in the black gear - that’s when it all started to calm down.”

Meanwhile, concerned residents took to Facebook in a bid to find out what was happening as police refused to let anyone in or out of the road with some describing seeing officers load their weapons.

But the drama was quickly averted once officers realised there was no danger being posed.

North Wales Police Force incident manager, Inspector Andy Griffiths told the Daily Post earlier: “Police were called to an incident in Warren Road, Rhyl, just after 12.05pm today.

“The matter was brought to a satisfactory conclusion and no arrests were made.

“The nature of the incident was that three males were reported to have been acting suspiciously in the area holding what was described as a gun.

“Armed police arrived at the scene where no offences were disclosed.

“The item described wasn’t a gun.”

Kevin added: “I never would’ve dreamed that a Jedi taking pictures of Sub Zero and a Resident Evil character would cause such a massive reaction.

“If the rest of the group had turned up, we would’ve had a Disney princess there as well so maybe it would’ve been more obvious that we were trying to do something for a good cause.

“At the end of the day, we were just a costume group trying to help our neighbours and we end up getting into trouble.”

Kevin and his friends are planning to donate items to help Anna-Marie Grief and her family who were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs after a blaze broke out at their home in Palace Avenue, Rhyl, on September 23.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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