Police in Norwich have joined social networking site Twitter as part of an innovative bid to keep local people in the picture when it comes to crime in the city.

Norfolk Police has successfully used Twitter to keep the public up-to-date with information on crime and incidents using the Constabulary's main account which has gained more than 8,500 followers since its launch in July 2009.

In June this year, the first district account was launched in King's Lynn with Thetford also going virtual last week. The accounts have proved popular in offering updates on policing at a much more local level.

Norwich is now following suit and the city's policing commander Superintendent Paul Sanford, right, hopes the tweets will give the public a better insight into police work and help build relationships with people using social networking sites.

He said: 'There is a lot of good police work going on in the city and we want to share that with our communities. We want as many people as possible to have access to this information and Twitter is a dynamic and effective way of achieving this, while also providing us with instant feedback.'

The Norwich account, @NorwichPoliceUK, will be used by officers, PCSOs and the superintendent to update people living in and around the city about what's going on.

As well as informing and reassuring local residents about policing incidents, officers will use the account to promote arrests, charges and crime trends.

It will also offer crime prevention advice and advertise local police surgeries and meetings.

Supt Sanford said officers would continue to use traditional methods of engagement, such as community surgeries to keep members of the public informed about policing matters.

The account launches today with tweets and updates from the city's policing teams.