IT was a heart-stopping scene. A BBC report seemed to show the Spinnaker Tower toppling dramatically into the Solent and crashing through an Isle of Wight ferry on its way down.

Footage of the iconic 170-metre structure collapsing into the harbour below caused an Internet sensation with more than 45,000 logging on to view it on video sharing website Youtube.

But now the Beeb has distanced itself from the hoax film, created by computer wizardry, and is calling on other renegade film makers to avoid using its logo for added authenticity.

A BBC spokesman told the Daily Echo: "This is clearly a fake. But in this case it would be unlikely we'd take any legal action.

"However, we certainly don't like people using our logo and we wouldn't encourage anyone to follow suit."

The one-minute clip was created by Portsmouth University student David Wortley using special effects trickery as part of a final year project for his computer animation degree.

During the terrifying disaster footage, shot in the style of a BBC News24 report, a television reporter gasps "Oh my God" as the structure slices a ferry in half.

The film proved so realistic that some viewers even had to call their friends to make sure the tower was still standing.

At the time, David from Norwich said he wanted to be controversial to provoke a reaction.

He said: "I had an idea of doing a disaster scenario and the tower is such an icon it made an obvious choice. I thought about Godzilla attacking the tower but then I decided to make it look like a realistic news report.

"Generally the response has been pretty positive. Most people realise it's a wind up and I've actually had a few people who work in the tower and on the ferry who say they think it's awesome."