Merseyside Police have apologised after making light of a "rape" joke in reference to Sunderland's heavy defeat to Everton.

A Twitter user messaged the authorities after watching Everton claim a 6-2 triumph over the Black Cats at Goodison Park on Sunday.

The tweet read: "Hello. I'd like to report an incident of rape that occurred at Goodison Park, Liverpool, on November 1st at 3:00".

@MerseyPolice replied: "Just confirm there was no actual rape for me? Sunderland certainly got caught with their pants down though."

A statement from the police on the same Twitter page wrote: "We would like to apologise for any offence caused by inappropriate tweets from the force account this afternoon.

"They do not reflect the strenuous efforts made by Merseyside Police to investigate serious sexual crimes and protect victims. A full investigation has been launched into the inappropriate use of the Merseyside Police Twitter account."

The tweets have since been deleted.