A member of Wiltshire Police staff resigned after he or she made an inappropriate post on the force's official Facebook site, it has been revealed.

The resignation related to a comment made on the Wiltshire force's Facebook site about the police authority rescinding its decision not to pay police staff their pay rise in 2010.

Hundreds of police employees have been investigated for breaching social media guidelines at forces across England and Wales during a five-year period, according to documents obtained by the Press Association.

In Wiltshire there were 18 investigations into alleged inappropriate use of social media between January 2009 and February this year.

In other cases police officers and civilians made racist and threatening comments on Facebook and Twitter, sent friend requests to victims of crime and uploaded images of colleagues in "compromising positions".

A total of 828 cases were reported to police bosses, ranging from social media gaffes to sackable offences which threatened to bring forces into disrepute.

About a seventh (14%) of all investigations resulted in no further action or the personnel having no case to answer. This compared with around a tenth of cases (9%) ending in a resignation, dismissal or retirement.

In Lancashire, a member of civilian staff received a written warning over derogatory remarks posted on their Facebook page about a police community support officer (PCSO) who had issued the staff member with a fine for dog fouling.

A PC with the same force also received management action after it was alleged they made inappropriate remarks on Facebook regarding someone's wife.

A fellow constable resigned over their "excessive and inappropriate use of the internet during working hours", in particular the PC's use of online auction sites, internet banking and social networking sites.

A colleague received counselling after an investigation into a Facebook photo of the staff member asleep whilst on duty in the control room.

According to Gwent Police, a PC acted inappropriately while attending a member of the public's home address and asked her to become a friend on Facebook, later sending a message through the site. They received a written warning.

Another PC also received the same punishment after using Facebook to send a message to a member of the public which was of an "abusive nature".

A PCSO with Devon and Cornwall Police received a final written warning for posting photos on Facebook of themselves with weapons.

A sergeant with the same force received a written warning after putting remarks on Facebook displaying disloyalty to force and remarks about senior officers.

An employee with Dyfed Powys sent was accused of being "threatening, bullying and intimidating towards a complainant by sending private messages via Facebook".

Two special constables in Northampton resigned after they were pictured on Facebook in a "compromising position".

According to Nottinghamshire Police, incidents of employees receiving management action included for a constable who chatted on Facebook with a member of the public and posted "confidential information concerning an upcoming police operation" while another posted comments "regarding their dissatisfaction at having to work on an upcoming police operation".

A civilian officer posted a comment on a Facebook account regarding the actions of Muslims in central London failing to observe a two-minute silence. It was alleged the language used "could be regarded as offensive/ inappropriate likely to cause offence to other persons", police said.

A civilian with South Yorkshire Police was accused of harassing an ex-partner via Facebook. They resigned prior to misconduct proceedings.

Similarly, Suffolk Constabulary said a sergeant was reprimanded after accessing an ex-partner's private Facebook account. They received a misconduct hearing regarding this and other matters, and were eventually dismissed.

Various forces also said there were investigations into comments that were deemed homophobic, racist or "religiously aggressive".

Greater Manchester Police reported the most investigations (88), followed by West Midlands (74) and the Met (69).

Avon and Somerset reported 27 investigations while there were 29 by the Thames Valley force.

A total of 13 forces reported having ten or fewer investigations between January 2009 and February 2014.

Additional details provided by most forces under Freedom of Information laws showed 548 of those investigated were police officers, compared with 175 civilian staff and 31 PCSO.

Wiltshire Police said in a statement: "Wiltshire Police expect all officers and staff to comply with the force’s values and behaviours when using any form of social media.

“The force also has a social media policy which all members of Wiltshire Police are expected to adhere to.”