Anyone lost a pirate ?

Shiver me timbers! A wayward pirate has been captured by police in west Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A swashbucklin' Captain Hook was found abandoned in Andersonstown and is now in police custody. The six-foot tall fibreglass figure was discovered lying on a roundabout in the Dart Hill area.

A member of the public phoned the police, and Peter Pan's nemesis was swiftly apprehended, put into the back of a Land Rover and taken to New Barnsley Police Station.

Station Sergeant Colin Hughes said the seafaring villain was one of the more unusual items to be brought into the station.

"I walked into my office at eight o'clock this morning and got a bit of a shock," he laughed. The light was off and I saw this tall man standing there. It's not the sort of thing you expect to see in a police station!"

Police admit they are a bit puzzled as to the origins of the so-called "gentleman of fortune". He may have come from a fancy dress shop, or perhaps from outside a video shop. There is also a rumour that he was last seen doing panto.

Sergeant Hughes said police were keen to have Captain Hook returned to his rightful owner. "Somebody, somewhere must have noticed this missing," he said. "If anyone has any information, could they contact us."

In the meantime, the buccaneer is being treated as "found" property and will remain in police custody until he is claimed.