Police in Gloucestershire have been forced to hold a patient suffering a mental health episode in custody after being told by partner agencies that there are no beds available.

On Twitter, the force said they are holding the person “without legal grounds” this afternoon.

The full tweet read: “We have someone our custody suite who is waiting for help from the health services but there’s no bed suitable for their specific needs at the moment.

“We’re all working to resolve this as quickly as possible as the individual is now being held without legal grounds.”

It’s believed the comment was posted on social media to highlight the issues faced by police dealing with mental health emergencies and the lack of support available to patients.

One follower, Carlie Clive, critised the post, saying: “Not too sure wht (sic) you would tweet this and again, not too sure why someone would want to make this political. Joke and Joke.”

Another, Marcus Bergin, said: “Fair play to the Police for demonstrating the issue at hand”.

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