Police Swoops In On 'Bank Robbery', Finds Staff Playing Hide And Seek

Police in Birmingham, UK, rushed to a bank after receiving reports that an armed robbery was underway, only to find it was a false alarm sparked by staff playing hide and seek. According to Birmingham Live, police swooped in at a NatWest Bank branch on Wednesday morning, after receiving a call about a suspected robbery. Instead, they found that the concerned caller had not seen a robbery in progress - it was only employees playing hide and seek during a team building exercise.

Dave Keen of West Midlands Police posted details of the misunderstanding on Twitter.

"Thanks to the member of public who called in a suspected robbery at a bank in Birmingham today, saw staff inside hiding under desks... it was a hide + seek team building exercise," he wrote.

Thanks to the member of public who called in a suspected robbery at a bank in #Birmingham today, saw staff inside hiding under desks. @ResponseWMP @firearmsWMP quickly attended and confirmed it was a hide + seek team building exercise
Contacting us was the right call pic.twitter.com/Sjo1KNCm9T

- Dave Keen (@DaveKeenWMP) October 10, 2018

Predictably enough, the incident inspired a lot of jokes:

Please tell us there's body cam footage of @firearmsWMP storming the place... pic.twitter.com/YCpVSXxx6q

- Bernard Carey CMIOSH (@bernicarey) October 10, 2018

Stupidly funny. But who plays hide and seek at work???? https://t.co/lawFylxERp

- Rich Law (@lawman_147) October 10, 2018

Don't know where to laugh, be shock or just shake my head. But good looking out to the member of the public

- Gwenette Crawford. (@Twiddly_wink) October 10, 2018

A NatWest spokesperson said to Telegraph: "We are aware of an instance of the police being called out to a branch this morning. We would like to thank the police for their swift response following a call from the member of public."

"We can confirm that it was a false alarm, following a team building exercise, and will be speaking to the members of staff involved to ensure that they all learn from this incident."