Essex Police chief points out poor police parking on Twitter

The force's chief posted a picture of a poorly-parked van saying he expected more from his officers

A chief constable has tweeted a picture of an officer's poor parking skills and apologised for it.

Stephen Kavanagh said the photo of an Essex Police van straddling two spaces in Boreham "fell below" the "higher standard" expected of the force.

In response to his tweet some of his followers said Mr Kavanagh's "priorities" were wrong.

However, he responded, saying: "Apologising... when we get it wrong is part of policing."

The chief constable wrote: "I hold our force to a higher standard & parking like this falls below it! Apologies to anyone inconvenienced."

One person who saw Mr Kavanagh's tweet wrote: "If this is what fills your day, boss, I'm really worried about your priorities."

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

Another criticised the post, saying: "Multiple stations closing, staff cut-backs in Essex and you're concentrating on parking? This is unbelievable."

However, Steve Taylor, chair of Essex Police Federation, commended Mr Kavanagh's tweet.

"This has certainly captured people's imagination, but, as the leader of our force we look to the chief constable to set the standards when it comes to expectations of how we should behave," he said.

"I'm not going to condemn him for sharing his values and expectations with his workforce.

"He's just asking us to be mindful of who we are and how we carry ourselves."

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "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."