Police chief apologises for officer's poor parking skills on Twitter

The Chief Constable of Essex Police has criticised the way one of his police officers parked by taking a photo of the 'bad' parking and sharing it with his Twitter followers.

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Stephen Kavanagh posted the picture that shows a van parked in the middle of two bays and wrote: "I hold our force to a higher standard & parking like this falls below it! Apologies to anyone inconvenienced in #Boreham yesterday".

But eagle-eyed Twitter users jumped to defend the police officer, with Fiona Unwin writing: "Think you are mistaken, Sir. If the van had parked 'correctly', the driver of the car would not have been able to get back in!"

She added: "If anything, it's excellent thoughtful parking!!"

Another social media user wrote: "If this is what fills your day Boss I'm really worried about your priorities."

Mr Kavanagh responded: "It doesn't fill my day. Apologising to the public when we get it wrong is part of policing."

A spokesman for Essex Police backed him up and told the BBC: "We expect anyone driving a police vehicle to be beyond reproach and show extra special consideration and courtesy to pedestrians and other cars when parking.

"The member of police staff who parked inconsiderately in Boreham has been spoken to and reminded of the need to uphold a higher standard in future."