MEDIA CENTRE

The policewoman was so upset when the snack vanished from her station fridge she fired off an angry email to the rest of her shift demanding the culprit own up.

Unfortunately she hit the wrong button and sent the message to every member of the 14,022-strong force.

The slip prompted hundreds of sarcastic replies including: "Do you need CID?".

Others included "Have you sealed off the area?", and "Has the dog unit been called?". It also won the unnamed officer an official ticking off and a place in a rogues gallery of email gaffes featured in a survey of office computer slips published today.

Jaspreet Riat, who is a West Midlands Police spokeswoman, said: "We can confirm that an email was sent in error and all staff have since been reminded of what is appropriate use of our email system."

The message is believed to have been dispatched from a police station in the Black Country. The survey - which was organised by the property firm officebroker.com - concluded that workers send 42 wrong or embarrassing emails every minute.