London A clown was forced to strip to his underpants at Birmingham airport after a piece of metal on his costume policeman's uniform - complete with helmet and handcuffs - triggered the security alarm, the British press reported Monday.

Children's entertainer David Vaughan, 60, was on his way to perform for disadvantaged children on a charity one-hour entertainment flight over the Midlands region.

But, despite his huge floppy shoes, policeman's helmet and face paint, "PC Konk" was stopped by security staff who did not see the funny side, confiscated his plastic handcuffs and ordered him to strip down to his shorts and T-shirt.

Staff also demanded that he put his bubble mix liquid, to be used to blow bubbles from a plastic saxophone, into a clear sealed plastic bag.

Vaughan, from Birmingham, said: "I'd made sure I'd bought plastic handcuffs and a plastic whistle but I hadn't realised that the costume had a metal band - I thought it was plastic."

"Don't get me wrong, they were only doing their job. The funny part about it was that we were not going anywhere," said Vaughan, who was allowed on to the plane to entertain the children with an hour's delay. (dpa)