West Yorkshire Police has apologised after a tweet by its Road Policing Unit shamed a homeless couple.

Officers from the Road Policing Unit tweeted a picture of a man and woman carrying their belongings away in Horbury Road, Wakefield, after seizing the car for being uninsured, with the hashtag '#luggagewalkofshame' earlier today.

The tweet was removed three hours later after the Examiner asked for comment, but officers had already been blasted on Twitter and asked why they weren't offering the couple help.

Tweet by the Road Policing Unit
Tweet by the Road Policing Unit

West Yorkshire Police apologised for the tweet and said it is investigating why it was posted.

A spokesman said: "We thank the Huddersfield Examiner for immediately bringing this matter to our attention. This is clearly an inappropriate tweet which we have immediately removed from our Twitter account, and we are looking into the circumstances as to why it has been posted.

"Regardless of any offences people have committed they still deserve their human dignity and we would apologise for the offence this has caused."

The tweet was branded 'disgraceful' by Twitter users.

Officers were blasted for the 'disgraceful' tweet
Officers were blasted for the 'disgraceful' tweet
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