Police were called out to a busy Essex motorway amid reports a human skull had been spotted. 

The item was seen on the hard shoulder of the M11 in Essex earlier this morning. 

Officers from the county's roads policing unit arrived at the scene to find a skull - but not one they were expecting. 

It turned out the skull was a fake and appeared to be a Halloween prop.

With the owner nowhere in site, the officers appear to have adopted it and posted a photo of it sat proudly on the dashboard of their car.

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Alongside the photo posted on Twitter, they said: "This morning a passing motorist reported seeing a human skull on the hard shoulder of the M11.

"You can imagine our faces when we actually found it - don’t be alarmed it’s plastic!"