Police officer who had just spent hours with heartbroken family after baby's sudden death met with angry note on car windscreen

The officer, who had stopped at a Tesco store to get a sandwich after his shift, was horrified to discover a note on his patrol car stating: "£100 fine for shopping on duty".

The police officer, who uses the Twitter handle @NorthWestCop took to social media to express his disbelief at the note, on Monday.

He tweeted: "Just left Tesco. Handwritten note on the windscreen of my patrol car. '£100 fine for shopping on duty'. If only I could tell the person who wrote it that I have just spent the last 7 hours at the sudden death of a baby. I'd bought a sandwich. We're not robots. #BeKind #WoundUp"

The tweet, which has been shared hundreds of times, has been met with anger and disbelief by emergency service workers across Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire Police Inspector Steve Hunter said: "The public sometimes really shock me.

"It is an incredibly challenging job for many reasons including tragic incidents like this but actually even if the officer has had an 'easy' shift they are entitled to eat."

Luke Derbyshire, a Community First Responder for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service also voiced his support for the officer.

He said: "It irritates me so much.

"Aside from any tragic incidents attended, people need to remember that officers and other emergency service workers are human - they need to eat, drink and sometimes take a minute."