A social media post criticisng the police for taking a coffee break has gone viral, prompting the policing team to speak out.

The post, which was shared on local public page Rayleigh Action Group before being picked up by popular national page UK Cop Humour, pointed out that four cars were parked at a petrol station at one time.

It said: "I don’t think the BP/M&S garage will be getting robbed anytime soon, as for the rest of Rayleigh, well your on your own the police need coffee and 🍩’s."

The petrol station is in London Road in Rayleigh near the Carpenter's Arms and is open 24 hours a day.

The post attracted a lot of criticism and caught the attention of the local policing team who have now responded and explained.

Sgt Victoria Jarvis, of the Castle Point and Rochford policing team, said: "This post on a local FB page and on UK Cop Humour has gone viral.

"This was taken on a night shift last week in Rayleigh. It’s rare to have a time where there aren’t emergency incidents outstanding; so yes our officers took the opportunity to have a coffee (they assure me they didn’t eat doughnuts on this occasion!!).

Echo:

"Police Officers are not entitled to set break times but when we can, we do this in public so we are ready to go if an incident comes in.

"The public often tell me they like seeing our officers out and about; so we encourage officers to have their refreshments in public. 

"Our officers have mobile devices so they can see incidents coming in wherever they are, as well as their radios so the control room can allocate incidents to them.

"It’s important like most work places that our teams communicate with each other as one minute you’ll be dealing with someone running at you with a knife, a robbery, a violent domestic, a road collision and next minute you could be dealing with mental health, a vulnerable person or a death.

"These colleagues are our support and back up so it’s vital we talk about past incidents and just have conversations with each other.

"We see & deal with things that many people don’t even realise go on in their community, so I think having a coffee together isn’t so bad. 

"Next time if you see officers out and about feel free to come over and say hello."

The response received widespread support on Facebook.

Megan Lucy Palmer said: "I am sick of seeing these posts where people use Facebook to slagg off the emergency services.

"I bet if anyone else had just mopped up a stabbing, broke up a fight and spoke to a grieving family, they'd want a coffee too."

Matthew Hardy added: "Please don't explain yourself. You are more than entitled to have a break, just like the individual who posted the original post.

"Just a cheap shot at our emergency services yet again. Keep up the great work. You're not robots."

You can follow all the Castle Point and Rochford CPT's hard work on their Facebook page by clicking here.