Favers Candy shop, Portobello. Picture: Julie Bull

The board – which belongs to Portobello Alliance, a group of Yes campaigners from the independence referendum – had a message attacking Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and made reference to her predecessor Jim Murphy.

The board accused Ms Dugdale of supporting cuts and added: “Kez backed Creepy Jim Murphy - the right-winger - and was anti-Jeremy Corbyn until recently.”

Mark Dempsey from Portobello Alliance said: “The police said someone had complained there was something slightly offensive on the board. But they had a look, shrugged their shoulder and went off.

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The board outside Favers in Portobello. Picture: Porty People/Facebook

“I think people are getting a bit over-excited because of the election – you wouldn’t ordinarily call the police about a message you didn’t like.”

He said the group had been using the board for a couple of years, changing the message regularly. “We thought it would put a smile on people’s faces. We should all be allowed to express ourselves. It would be great if other organisations stuck boards out to get their message across.”

A police spokesman said: “We received a complaint on Saturday in relation to the content on a sandwich board outside a business. Officers attended and established that no offence had been committed and no further police action was required.”