A “human hand” discovered on a beach near Swansea sparked an emergency police response – but all was not as it seemed.

While on patrol at Rhossili on the Gower, officers were called by members of the coastguard to Llangennith beach.

South Wales Police posted on Facebook that officers had received a report a “human foot/hand” had been found on the beach.

The force said the area in question is known for having parts of dead seals or other marine animals washed up.

It can be difficult for members of the public to tell the difference between human and seal bones, as seals also have five “fingers” and “toes”, it said.

Gareth Richards, who runs the Gower Seal Group, happened to be walking past at the time and officers asked him for his help.

It took four hours for the officers and Mr Richards to track down the remains, before they could be identified as part of a seal.

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He told Sky News a member of the public had taken photographs of what they believed to be a “human hand” sticking out of the sand.

“[A member of the public] took photographs and they sent the photographs in to the emergency services. But it’s very difficult to be able to interpret the photograph and it did look a little bit suspicious,” Mr Richards told Sky News.

“Of course, you can’t actually beat going to the scene and taking a quick look myself.”

The seal was about a year old and had been scavenged by birds, according to Mr Richards.

“I double-checked with the police first if it was okay to touch because it is potentially a crime scene, and they were quite happy for me to examine it a bit further,” he said.

“And I just really splayed the fingers out and I could see that it was webbed, so it was a rear flipper of a North Atlantic grey seal.”

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He added: “Because of the type of call that actually came in, the duty investigator was informed, the crime scene investigators were on standby.

“So actually it probably saved the police, and certainly the taxpayer, quite a few thousands of pounds by just having that good relationship and me just happening to be in the area.”

Mr Richards said it was just a case of luck that he was “in the right place at the right time”.

“What I would say is [for] any members of the public who have any concerns whatsoever is to contact the appropriate authorities and let them come down and take over,” he added.

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