Police broke down the door of an art gallery to rescue an ‘unconscious’ woman in a critical condition – only to find that she was an art installation.

Officers rushed to the Laz Emporium in Soho, London after receiving a call from someone concerned for the person, who ‘hadn’t moved for two hours’.

After finding the property locked, they took the door off its hinges – but quickly discovered things weren’t what they thought.

Kristina, by American artist Mark Jenkins, depicts a woman in a yellow hoodie, black trousers and light-coloured trainers collapsed over a table. 

Rather than flesh and bone, she’s made from packing tape and foam filler and would be worth £18,000 if put on the market.

The artwork was commissioned by the founder of the galley, Banksy’s former agent, Steve Lazarides.

It’s not the first time it has sparked confusion – paramedics were called when it was shown at art and design fair Decorex in October, it’s reported.

A Laz Emporium employee named Hannah Blakemore came downstairs from making a cup of tea to find ‘the door off its hinges and two confused police officers’.

She told Artnet News she was ‘shocked’ to find the uniformed cops, who had assumed the unconscious person had ‘a heart attack or had overdosed’.

Officers apparently ‘lectured’ Hannah on having a sculpture that looked so real. It can be seen through the window of the gallery.

She said: ‘The work is to provoke and it’s definitely achieving that.’

The Metropolitan Police confirmed the Laz Emporium incident on November 25, saying ‘officers forced entry to the address, where they uncovered that the person was in fact a mannequin’.

They added: ‘The Met has a duty of care to respond when there is a welfare concern.’

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