Police sent to London gallery over bomb artwork

Police in riot gear were sent to raid a central London gallery after it put a fake bomb in the window.

Alison Southward, manager of Mauger Modern Art, in Rochester Row, Westminster, said she arrived at work to find officers in riot gear outside.

A police spokesman said it had received reports of a "suspicious" device.

The gallery said the "comedy bomb" was strapped to a step ladder and featured "Western-style bunches of dynamite" and an alarm.

Ms Southward said: "I arrived to open up the gallery, and a riot van and two squad carriers were outside.

"The officers told me they were just about to break the door down.

"They told me having something that looks like a bomb is a criminal offence and I could be sent to prison."

Once she explained that the bomb was not real they relented, however.

She said: "When I explained it was an installation, they said that as long as we put up something in the window to say it's a piece of art, we'd be able to keep it."

Gallery owner Richard Mauger described the installation by artist Paul McGowan was "a comic illustration".

He said: "It's obviously a comedy bomb. It's laughable."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said police were sent to the gallery at about 1020 BST.

He added: "Officers attended and ascertained that the item was an art installation."

Mr McGowan's artwork has appeared at the Eden Project, in Cornwall since 2008.

He said of his work: "The physical and emotional landscape is changing and there is so much tension and anxiety all around us."