A gun was discovered by police just 300 metres away from a kids' playground in Southall on Tuesday (April 26).
PC Michael Meehan, neighbourhood ward officer for Southall Green, posted the discovery on social networking site Twitter.
In the post, he shares a picture of what appears to be an air rifle found on the grass, with the wooden body and metal barrel visible.
He said the weapon was found at the Southall Recreation Ground, Tachbrook Road. A children's play area is located nearby in the park.
Police said that no arrests have been made but have confirmed the weapon is thought to be real.
It is also not known whether or not the gun was loaded at the time of discovery.
The discovery follows a similar incident on February 15 this year at the Southall Gasworks site, in Southall, where construction workers were surprised to unearth a silver gun.
In a bid to remove weapons from the streets, Hounslow Council this week installed knife bins around the borough to allow people to dispose of them confidentially.
