The force is coming under growing pressure to give a reason for posting the message which it did not clarify for three hours.

Members of the public have accused it of spreading "misinformation" and of causing panic, while candidates for the post of police and crime commissioner are leading calls for senior officers to give an explanation.

The force posted the message at 8.30am on Sunday, warning of an ongoing major incident and telling the public it would not be able to respond to non-urgent calls.

Norfolk Police is yet to provide answers (Image: Newsquest)

Callers to the police switchboard were then met with an automated message on a loop telling them a major incident was ongoing.

The post stayed online for an hour and a half before being deleted.

But it was not until 11.30am that the force put out a second, strangely-worded update........

© Norwich Evening News