AVON and Somerset Police are one of the first forces in the country to make use of the social networking phenomena "Twitter".

Twitter is a "micro-blogging" website that allows people to keep in touch through the use of small messages that are regularly updated.

People can enter their messages which are known as "Tweets" through a web browser or their mobile phone.

Avon and Somerset see the technology as a powerful way to communicate with the residents of the Avon and Somerset Police area.

All the latest news and appeals from the police's website are automatically fed through to their dedicated Twitter page which can be found at www.twitter.com/aspolice Other Twitter users can then choose to "follow" the page and receive regular updates on their own Twitter profile.

Scott Fulton, the Constabulary's eServices manager said: "We have already seen a huge success through our use of Facebook, Youtube and other social networking sites to engage with our local communities and support our on-line services.

“Setting up our news feed with Twitter seemed the next logical thing to do. It was so easy to set up as well with our page being up and running within five minutes.

"It was recently revealed that communication via social networking sites has now overtaken e-mail as the main method of contact on-line.

“People are spending a large amount of time on these sites and we find them a valuable tool for engaging with our communities."

The force also has pages on Facebook (www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/facebook) and Youtube (www.youtube.com/aspolice)