IMITATION handguns on sale in York shops could trigger a full-scale armed police alert, officers warned today.

The toys are indistinguishable from real firearms to the untrained eye.

Police have been called to a number of incidents in recent weeks after receiving reports that people have been seen with the guns in the street.

Those seen brandishing them could be arrested for public order offences.

And police fear they could be used in armed robberies, as has happened in the past.

"If a child were holding one I don't think it would cause anyone much concern, but in the wrong hands it could be very stressful and frightening," said Inspector Tim Madgwick, commander of York city centre.

"Most people won't know the difference between one of these and the real thing - if it were pointed at you, you wouldn't take the time to ask if it were genuine."

Police say imitation guns are "invariably" used in armed robberies, but Insp Madgwick said the level of fear remained the same for those staring down the barrel.

"Armed robbery victims are only aware it is a gun capable of killing them," he said.

"When we speak to them after a robbery, they just describe seeing a firearm."

Insp Madgwick said that while all the incidents involving toy guns had been resolved peacefully, there was potential for the situation to escalate - with the force's armed response unit called out.

"If a shopkeeper tells us they have been held up with a firearm, or what appears to be a firearm, we would treat it as a firearm situation and armed officers could be deployed."

One York shop has already been asked to remove from sale a range of toy guns which fires plastic pellets after a nine-year-old girl was shot and injured in the city centre.

"I think there is no need to sell these toys, be they pellet guns or cap guns, to anyone," Insp Madgwick said.

"All it does is give people the opportunity to use them inappropriately, and I wonder how they would react if the boot was on the other foot and they were the victim of an armed robbery."

Lee Barker, co-owner of E D and L Barker Gifts, in Minster Gates, where the Evening Press bought a cap gun for £7.50, said they differed from the real thing in size and appearance.

Mr Barker said business in the guns had been brisk and that he would only remove them from sale if he were compensated for doing so.

PICTURE: FALSE IMPRESSION: Evening Press crime reporter David Wiles shows how realistic a toy gun can seem Picture: Paul Baker