Andy Murray was at the centre of a security scare after a group of autograph hunters holding tennis racquets were mistaken for gunmen in London traffic.
The Wimbledon Champion was being driven from a book signing at Waterstones Piccadilly on Wednesday evening to film an interview for the Jonathan Ross Show when the group approached his car.
The four men – one of whom was Ifran Ahmed, who accidentally hit the player in the eye with a brochure in his desperation to get an autograph this summer – were driving behind Murray and jumped out of their car when his pulled up at traffic lights, holding racquets for him to sign.
But a member of the public saw the encounter and called the police, thinking the men had a shotgun.
Police tracked down the men and searched their car, but were unable to find a gun.
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A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at 5pm on Wednesday, November 6, by a member of the public reporting they had seen a male in a Mercedes car in possession of a firearm.
“The car was stopped and four men – aged 27, 21, 31 and 26 – were arrested on suspicion of being in possession of a firearm. They were taken into custody and on November 7 bailed to return on a date in late January, pending further investigation. A search of the car was conducted and no trace of a firearm was found.”
Mr Ahmed is a professional autograph hunter and used to have an eBay account called ‘pieceoffame’ selling celebrity memorabilia.
When asked on Twitter how he managed to collect so many autographs, he replied: “We have our ways. We know how to get to the front of the queue. I’m a professional.”
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