Chef Gordon Ramsay triggered a lockdown in a London prison when a potato peeler went missing during filming of his new show. 

Guards reportedly performed a two-hour search at the Brixton Prison earlier this month, fearing an inmate would turn the basic kitchen tool into a weapon.

When the peeler couldn't be found, production crews were asked to double-check their equipment. Ramsay's staff was left red-faced after realizing nothing had been lost.

"This was all pretty farcical stuff," a source told the Sunday Mirror. "Obviously filming in a prison can be very challenging as you have to follow very strict security ­procedures. Crew have to draw up ­inventories of every ­single thing they bring in."

The source continued, "Lo and behold, they realized they'd only brought 11 inside in the first place. The look on their faces when they had to tell these tough prison guards they'd completely wasted their time was absolutely priceless."

A prison spokesman confirmed the incident, referring to it as a "miscalculation of kitchen equipment."

Ramsay, whose brother was incarcerated in an Indonesian prison for heroin possession in 2007, is attempting to rehabilitate inmates through cooking. His show is scheduled to premiere later this year on Channel 4 in the UK.

Tags: Gordon Ramsay