IT was supposed to be a simple appeal for people to be on the lookout for thieves operating in their area.
But police in East Lothian were left red-faced after a Twitter gaffe appeared to encourage residents to take the law into their own hands.
Officers have their own account on the social networking site and regularly post updates on investigations.
But they raised an eyebrow after posting the message asking residents in the villages of Longniddry and Gullane to be on the lookout for criminals who have been scouring gardens in the area searching for something to steal. On May 9, officers posted: "Longniddry residents please continue to be vigilant regarding suspicious people in the area. Keep the information coming."
But this Thursday, the EastLothianPolice Twitter account revealed: "Enquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible. Occupants asked to remain vigilante for any suspicious persons/vehicles in the area."
Andy Marshall, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, joked: "Well done Police Scotland for changing their policy regarding apprehending crooks. "
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article