A Comic Relief fundraiser sparked a large-scale police alert when he was seen walking along a busy road in full camouflage carrying a 'large rifle'. Armed police, a helicopter and patrol cars were called to the Whitefriars area of Norwich after members of the public raised the alarm this morning. But officers have now revealed that the man, who lives locally, was just on his way to a fundraising event in a costume complete with a toy AK47. Chief Inspector Chris Spinks said the man surrendered the 'weapon' and was 'apologetic and very embarrassed'. Armed police are hunting a 'gunman' in full camouflage clothing seen walking through a busy city centre . 'As a result of the media attention we had a phone call come in saying they thought they had identified the man,' he said. 'We went to see him at 2pm and he was very apologetic and very embarrassed. Two of our officers offered him some strong words of advice. 'He surrendered the weapon which was an imitation firearm. It was a plastic model AK47 which he had painted himself to make it more realistic. 'What he has been told and what we would tell other people is that anybody who wants to do something out of the ordinary should think about it first. 'Obviously when you have dressed yourself like that you know what your motives are but clearly some people this morning were not and they rightly called the police. 'We were relatively certain that it would be something around the fundraising issue but we couldn't be sure so we responded with our armed unit, our dog unit and a helicopter.' There have been no sightings of the man since officers responded to a number of calls this morning . 'This is the second similar high profile incident which has taken place in the last month. 'We would like to remind people to think carefully about the consequences of carrying imitation weapons and of their general appearance which, as in this case, could be misconstrued by other members of the public.' No offences were committed, but the man was visited by officers and has been given strong words of advice about the  consequences of his actions. Officers were called to the Whitefriars area of Norwich - near the city's law courts - at about 8.30am today and a helicopter was  deployed to help with the search. A taxi driver, who captured video of the 'gunman', said: 'I saw a man in the full combat clothing carrying a rifle in his right hand. 'I wasn't sure if it was an imitation but I thought it was a bit strange.' Eliza O'Hara tweeted: 'Arrive at work to find the area surrounded by police with guns and a helicopter circling.' John M Hayes ‏tweeted: 'Our Norwich Office was surrounded by armed police and helicopters, thankfully none of the team was wearing camouflage.' Police mounted a full-scale search operation in Norwich on February 18 when a teenager was spotted waving around a machete. It turned out he was a second-year media student participating in a film project - and was actually waving a toy sword. Do you know the charity fundraiser? Email jenny.awford@dailymail.co.uk or call 02036154835 .
A 'gunman' wearing camouflage clothing sparked security alert in Norwich . But man has been revealed as a Comic Relief fundraiser in fancy dress . Armed police launched a manhunt and a helicopter was deployed . No offences were committed, but the man was spoken to by police . Do you know this man? Email jenny.awford@dailymail.co.uk or call 02036154835 .