A home-made car alarm caused concern when fire crews thought it could be a bomb.

The device was spotted by eagle-eyed firefighters from Barking Fire Station when they were called to a car alight in Keir Hardie Way in Barkingside at 3am this morning.

They called in reinforcements from Ilford Fire Station in High Road, Ilford as well as police officers.

Crew manager at Ilford Station, Jim Jobson said: “They found several wires and stuff which they thought was suspicious. During this time we are on high alert with the Olympics and the Royal Wedding. They saw that and thought they would call it in.”

But the drama turned out to be a storm in a teacup when police officers contacted the owner of the car and he came to claim his vehicle, revealing he had worrisome wires were part of a home-made security device for his motor.

“The owner couldn’t stop laughing because he caused so much fuss but the officers didn’t have a lot of sympathy for him,” Mr Jobson added.

“The suspicious device wasn’t very good because the car had been stolen.”