Python AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'Serial' -

I am trying to use a serial port with Python 2.6 on Debian running on my Raspberry P My script tries to import named serial.py pySerial:

  import serial ser = serial.Serial ('/ dev / ttyAMA0', 9600) ser. Write ("hello world!")   
 For some reason it denies establishing a serial connection with this error:  
  AttributeError: 'module 'Object does not have any attribute' serial '  
 When I try to write the same code in the interactive Python interpreter, it still does not work.  
 Strangely, it used to work about a few hours before.  
 What could be the problem? I have tried to fix it for a little while, re-installing picarial, re-writing my code, checking serial ports etc.  
 Thanks in advance!   
 
 
 You are importing the module, not the class. Therefore, you have to write:  from serial import serial