WARWICKSHIRE Police and West Mercia Police have signed up to join the new Twitter Alerts service, allowing subscribers to be sent emergency information straight to their mobile phones.

The system will be used for significant issues that mean people need to receive warnings, evacuation details, safety alerts or further instructions quickly. It will only be used when dealing with the most serious incidents.

Users receive the alert as a text message and it also appears in their Twitter timeline with an orange bell. Apple iOS and Android users will also receive a notification of the alert on their smartphones.

To subscribe to alerts, see twitter.com/warkspolice/alerts or twitter.com/wmerciapolice/alert.