The police helicopter was called to Calne in the early hours of Saturday morning to search for a man thought to be covered in blood.

Officers received a report of a man lying on the side of the road near Ratford Bridge Farm in what was thought to be a pool of blood at 1.25am When police got to the scene the man had left and it was found that he had been lying in vomit.

A spokesman for the Wiltshire Police said: "A woman was driving down the road and saw this man lying near a bike in what she thought was a pool of blood.

"She drove down the road and flagged an officer down to report it, but it turned out not to be blood but sick.

"When paramedics arrived they found a man on a bike, but it was a different guy.

"The helicopter was called out but there was nobody there."

The helicopter spent 20 minutes searching for the man, but he was not found.