A RESPONSE to a call for assistance from Airedale Hospital and an arrest of a wanted man for burglary are among incidents reported by local police on Twitter today. (Nov 30)

Police in Keighley have been joining West Yorkshire Police's "Tweetathon" initiative, which is designed to demonstrate the varied work the police do to keep communities safe.

Keighley police have so far used the opportunity to tweet that they raided an address in the town this morning, where they arrested one person and seized drugs.

They have also attended an incident where a person was knocked down in a road collision, resolved a domestic dispute between brothers and warned motorists in Keighley against parking which could obstruct emergency vehicles.

Chief inspector Sally Fryer, who organised the initiative, said: "Social media platforms, including Twitter, provide an excellent opportunity to reach out to the communities we serve like never before and actively engage with people. The potential to make a real difference is fantastic.?

"We've always looked at opportunities to do something a little different with the way in which we use social media.

"So we're running this 24-hour Tweetathon to show people the work that goes on across the force to keep the communities we serve safe and well."

Chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, Dee Collins, said: "The aim of the Tweetathon is to encourage engagement with our communities, partners and particularly with young people to raise public awareness of the complexity of policing and the variety of our work. ?

"Social media is becomingly an increasingly important communication tool, enabling the police to reach out to and directly hear from our communities so we can provide the services they need."