Essex police were the source of laughs this morning as they announced their new festive social media initiative – an advent calendar advert for wanted individuals.

Tiras Downie, a 38-year-old man, was featured in their Twitter post surrounded by a bauble and red snowflake border.

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In the caption they wrote: "Our first wanted person in the advent calendar series is Tiras Downie, 38. He's wanted on suspicion of breaching a court order and has links to Wandsworth & Ipswich. Last known to be living in the Lambeth area. Call Pc Clare Thomas at Harlow police station on 101 with info."

Currently the post has over 300 retweets and people were quick to comment on how bizarre and unexpected it was:

Another person deemed it "entirely inappropriate".

Today The Sun reported senior police officers in Edinburgh were told off for making a "cringeworthy" Christmas video in festive jumpers. They were accused of wasting time by not catching criminals and for being "obsessed" with Twitter.

Police Crime Twitter Christmas