POLICE have apologised after a photograph shared by officers on social media sparked a Twitter row.

The picture showed a uniformed North Yorkshire Police officer standing with a second man, who was wearing a florescent vest and patches similar to the serving officer. The second man also wore a patch marked 'Dog Handler', and the caption in the Tweet said: "Have you spotted our Police Dogs during our #ProjectServator deployments? @YorkRacecourse working hard to keep you safe #YorkRaces"

However, the tweet was quickly criticised by those who looked closely and realised the second man was not a police officer, but a private security dog handler, dressed very similarly to the police officer.

One critic was former police officer and PCC candidate Mike Pannett, as he felt the public were being misled as to the number of North Yorkshire Police officers on duty.

Last summer, North Yorkshire Police's dog unit was merged with those of Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary, in a money-saving exercise the force hoped would save £172,000 a year.

Mr Pannett said: "Across the country we have seen cuts to our police dogs of between 50 to 75 per cent. This has opened up opportunities for private security companies to fill the void." 

Within hours of the tweet being posted, it was deleted, and the city centre team confirmed the following morning the matter was being looked into.

A tweet the following morning read: "Morning all, the photo that caused some confusion yesterday has been removed. It was factually incorrect. We are looking into the matter."

Superintendent Mark Grange of North Yorkshire Police’s Operational Policing Training Command apologised for the mistake.

Supt Grange said: "North Yorkshire Police actively encourages officers, PCSOs, police staff and Specials to use social media to for community engagement, publicising crime prevention advice, appealing for witnesses to crimes and other incidents, and much more. It’s an important aspect of policing both in terms of how we communicate with our communities and as a tool to detect and fight crime.

"On rare occasions information can be issued in error, as is the case with this particular social media post. York Racecourse employ a private security firm which includes a handler and dog.? They are not directed by police in their duties within the racecourse. It is not for us to comment on the racecourse use of dogs. We apologise for any confusion or concern caused and are happy to set the record straight."