This photo shows the eerie discovery made on the banks of the River Thames in Gravesend yesterday (March 11).

Stunned locals came across what they thought was a skeleton lying in the mud - with its knees bent and ribcage and skull on display.

However the truth was far less sinister.

The gruesome-looking sight was, in fact, a combination of old metal and rope.

Rob Powell, who was taking photos of a nearby ship for website OnTheThames.net, captured the sight and posted it on Twitter, where is has been shared numerous times.

He said: "I had to double take at first as it's not the kind of thing you usually see by the riverside.

"Obviously, it looked like a skeleton, which was a bit grim, and it was only when I got closer that I realised it was metal and old rope."

Graham Long, Gravesend town centre manager, tweeted: "We've not seen anything like that before – how bizarre and intriguing."

And Alan Carr, Royal National Lifeboat Institution spokesman, added the skeleton-like find was "very sinister".