REBUS author Ian Rankin found himself at the centre of his own crime drama after he was mistaken for a burglar.

Police officers turned up at the writer’s home to question him after a report was made to police that there was a man acting suspiciously in his street.

When the officers arrived at the scene in Edinburgh’s affluent Merchiston area, a resident told them their description of the suspected prowler sounded very much like Rankin.

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They then went to the Fife-born 56-year-old’s home and realised it was a false alarm.

It turned out he had been helping his son Jack, 24, move house and was reported to police after someone saw him carrying bags filled with computer equipment.

The award-winning author, famous for his novels about Edinburgh detective John Rebus, revealed on Twitter how the incident unfolded on Saturday.

He said: “Two cops at the door. Someone suspicious in neighbourhood. ‘From the description, a neighbour thought it might be you.’ “It was actually me and Jack, acting suspiciously apparently, walking down the street we live on.

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“I’d just been helping son move from his flat, so all cops could see behind me were boxes, stuffed bags and computer stuff. Suspicious? Moi?

“So it was just me walking down the street. Suspiciously so, it seems.”

Rankin said the two officers “laughed it off” after it was discovered there had been a mistake.