An investigation has been launched into what happened.

The magazine was lost from a pouch on the officer's belt.

Despite extensive searches on the officer's route, the magazine has not been found.

Pistols dropped

A force spokeswoman said the officer had been to a number of locations in Nottinghamshire and the city of Nottingham during his patrol during Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

The magazine is six inches long, made of metal and painted black.

The police say the bullets inside are not dangerous unless they are mistreated.

They are asking anyone who finds the magazine to hand it in.

It is not the first time Nottinghamshire Police have been embarrassed by such a loss.

Two years ago a similar magazine went missing but was recovered the next day and in the 1990s a number of pistols fell out of a police van.