Three police staff have been suspended from duty and a fourth has been placed on leave after they posted allegedly racist messages on the social media channel X.

The Midden-Nederland police division, which covers parts of Utrecht province, Flevoland and Het Gooi en Vechtstreek, has started an investigation into the offending posts after being alerted by the force’s web care team.

In a press release, the regional division described the messages as potentially “discriminatory, racist and unprofessional” without going into further detail.

They were sent through private accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, and reported on Friday.

Acting divisional police commander Michel de Roos said: “We are a police force that stands for everybody. Hurtful and inappropriate comments on personal social media accounts that could be viewed as discriminatory or racist by colleagues are unacceptable.”