Beachy Head mannequin sparks full-scale cliff alert

A mannequin that was thrown off Beachy Head by a film crew sparked a full-scale air and sea search, coastguards have said.

A helicopter, lifeboat and the police had to search the Sussex coast because they had to rule out the possibility it was a body, a spokesman told the BBC.

Walkers alerted the Beachy Head chaplain after seeing what they thought was a body, an unnamed witness said.

The emergency response is believed to have cost £3,000, a source said.

Birling Gap and Eastbourne coastguard rescue teams and two RNLI lifeboats were deployed at about 14:20 BST, while a search and rescue helicopter was scrambled amid difficult flying conditions due to sea fog at the time.

The mannequin was later found and the search teams stood down.

In a statement, Eastbourne Borough Council said: "The council has not given authorisation to any film crews to use Beachy Head today. We are making urgent enquiries."

Responding to the alleged cost of the operation, a spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: "We will always respond no matter what it is, to make sure it isn't a person. If someone reports an object in the water we are going to respond to that.

"We would never put a price on a human life."

She added: "We wouldn't want someone not to call us because they were worried about the cost. If anyone sees anything, call 999 and ask for the coastguard."

Sussex Police said officers responded to reports of a body in the water.

But a spokesman for the force said: "We made enquiries and by 3.30pm we established that a mannequin had been thrown over the cliff edge at Belle Tout by a film crew who had left the scene before the arrival of police.

"They have not been traced and their motive is not known."

He said the matter was closed as far as police were concerned.

Vivien Hunot, from Uckfield, was walking along the coast and took a picture of the film crew at about midday.

She said: "It looked like a Bollywood film. There was a woman in a very bright orange dress and she had a toy gun, and a guy with quaffed hair in an electric blue suit.

"She looked as if she was going to kill someone. It was all part of the plot."

Ms Hunot said she didn't see the mannequin but she was concerned the group were "alarmingly" close to the edge.

In a separate development earlier, Sussex photographer Dan Jessup took pictures of what appeared to be a family standing looking over the cliff edge.

A woman was seen holding on to the feet of a toddler as the youngster peered over the edge while a man took a photograph.

A second toddler was seen standing behind the group not holding on to anyone's hand.

After the picture made headlines, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency tweeted: "Please #staysafe folks. We can't stress enough how important it is to keep back from cliff edges. No photograph or selfie is worth risking your life for...."

Each summer, numerous alerts about the dangers of cliff edges are issued by the emergency services.

The Sussex chalk cliffs are notorious for whole sections giving way without warning.