Firefighters went to rescue a 60ft-high tree branch in Cove after they mistook it for a trapped iguana on Friday.

A crew from Basingstoke used a 25ft aerial ladder to climb the tree and realised what it was actually a branch when they were close enough.

A spokesman said the branch looked strikingly like the animal, wich is native to the Caribbean and South and Central America, when seen from the ground.

He said: “When they got nearer they could see it was just the branch dangling in the wind.

“We take animal rescues seriously but in this case it was a false alarm.”