A suspected bomb which almost cancelled Pride at the weekend could turn out to be a camera after The Argus helped police piece together the mystery.

Sussex Police have confirmed a line of enquiry is that the suspicious package which delayed the Pride parade by more than an hour and a half was a camera.

A shrewd reader commented on The Argus' comments section of the website mentioning a story the paper ran on pin-hole cameras in June.

The photographer, Nick Sayers, was contacted by The Argus who confirmed it was not one of his cameras, but decided to call the police.

Within hours, Sussex Police confirmed this was a line of enquiry. 

The item was discovered on the A259 by the bandstand at 11.10am on Saturday before the Brighton Pride Parade was due to start.

The parade had to be re-routed and the start was delayed by an hour and half.

The investigation into the seafront device has now been possibly linked to a similar item which was found at the Brighton Marina on the sixth floor of the multi-storey car park by staff on July 1.

Both items are visually similar and will now be sent for further for forensic examination.

Brighton and Hove divisional commander, Chief Superintendent Nev Kemp said: "We are keeping an open mind as to why this package was placed close to the start of the Pride parade.

"Enquiries are ongoing but so far show there is nothing to suggest it was placed with the intention of targeting any particular community, which is reassuring.

"The item on Saturday did look like a suspicious device and we were concerned enough to call in the bomb disposal unit, who after making a further assessment, also agreed it was highly suspicious and carried out a controlled explosion.

"The area had been cordoned off and there was no risk to the public."