Police in Leicester have been commended on social media after treating a suspected illegal immigrant to a slice of British culture.
The pair of coppers found a man walking along a motorway in Leicestershire and apprehended him on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.
The man claimed not to have eaten for several days and, while the rozzers were not as hungry as that, they certainly felt like they were well overdue a bite to eat as well.
Thus, they took themselves off to the nearest chippy and bought some traditional British food to keep themselves going - a big bag of chips.
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"Male found on motorway suspected to be an illegal immigrant into the UK," wrote Leicestershire Road Policing Unit later on Twitter.
"He's not eaten for days and we've not eaten for hours, so we've all shared some fine English cuisine... a bag of chips!"
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Though buying dinner for suspected offenders is hardly following regulations, the two police officers won the appreciation of social media as a result of their actions.
The tweet has garnered over 300 retweets and over 2,000 likes, as well as over a hundred comments.
"That is really lovely to see," wrote one tweeter. "No matter what his situation is he is still a human and I love how you are treating him as one."
Another added: "Brilliant. Stories like this are few and far between on here so it makes reading one more special. Kindness, humanity, generosity and of course the great choice of the fine cuisine. You should be proud of yourselves. We are."
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A third wrote. "I rarely feel pride for my country nowadays but you guys just made me so damn proud! This is what British values mean; compassion, kindness and solid common sense. If you had a kettle, I reckon you'd have put it on!"
The question is - what did the suspect get back at the station?
One tweeter suggested a cup of tea, and while that is always a good idea and probably the traditional accompaniment to a bag of chips, I've always preferred a can of fizzy pop - Irn-Bru or Dandelion & Burdock, if possible - to cut through the starch and fat of a chip supper.
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Perhaps they got the mini-Battenbergs out for pudding, or even - as my Nan used to do - broke open a fresh pack of post-chippy choc ices.
Come on, Leicestershire Road Policing Unit - don't just give us half the story!
Featured Image Credit: PA / Neil Turner (Creative Commons)Topics: Chips, Police, UK News