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Members of the public were terrified by the sight of a hooded assassin standing calmly to attention in the middle of Exeter carrying a large, orange gun.

Police firearms officers were alerted in Exeter city centre - but stood down when they realised the 'terrorist' was waiting outside the Corn Exchange for his friends at the end of a day-long comic convention.

Officers were about to send armed units until they looked at CCTV and saw him being followed by a Roman Centurion with a large sword and two Klingons.

The amused Force Incident Manager tweeted to the Sci-Fi enthusiasts : "Please remove balaclavas and put your toys guns away before leaving."

Insp Howard Brugge said: "The report came in to me as the force incident manager and firearms commander.

"It's a bit silly to stand outside in the street wearing a balaclava and carrying what looks like a gun. We sent a police office to have a chat and give him a few words of advice.

"Mind you, just after that a Roman Centurion came out with a big sword and then there were a few Klingons.

"We were about to send armed officers until we saw the CCTV and realised it was the end of the day at the Comic Convention."

The all-day event was DevCon Exeter, a Sci-Fi and Comic Convention which included the South West Cosplay Championships.

(Image: @PSChrisPusey)

Pc Chris Pusey entered into the spirit of the day and tweeted about 'catching two wanted villains' at the event. The Exeter response officer arrested Batman's nemesis The Joker as he enjoyed an afternoon meeting many of the people who attended in fancy dress.

John Altman who played nasty Nick in the BBC soap opened the event.

The actor who has also appeared in Return of the Jedi was joined by actors Matthew Dale and Jon Davey.

(Image: @PSChrisPusey)

Matthew is famous for his roles in Doctor Who, Rogue One and Tale of a Timelord, while Job is best known for his role in Doctor Who.