A WALNEY man sparked a social media spat with Barrow police after accusing officers of "not doing their jobs properly" after violence broke out at an AFC game.

A 14-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man from Barrow was arrested by police after minibuses carrying York City supporters were pelted with rocks following a Barrow AFC match on Saturday.

Two people were taken to hospital with head injuries after the minibuses, which were carrying women and children, were attacked shortly after 5pm along the A590 Walney Road, between the fire station and the Ormsgill junction.

Police described the incident as "cowardly and deplorable" but their response and policing of the football match has since come under fire on Twitter with one user seemingly holding officers to account for the violence.

Lee Richards, whose Twitter profile describes him as being from Walney, said: "Why didn't you do your job properly and escort buses/coaches to A590 or at least to Dalton? Police escort 10 mins out of the way job done stop making excuses for bad policing, was loads there."

Barrow police, known for their effective and frank use of Twitter, were quick to respond.

They said: "So it's all the police's fault that a bus was bricked."

Mr Richards then appeared to accuse police of going to "the chippy" as soon as the York fans got back on their bus, which elicited a somewhat blunt response from the police's account: "Mr Richards, you really are clueless."

A number of different officers operate Barrow police's Twitter account, which has almost 13,000 followers.

The public row led to a number of others coming out in support of the police, with both Robert Rogers and Jim Calverley agreeing with officers about Mr Richards' opinions.

Mr Calverley, a York City fan, said: "@Leerichards44 I'm with @barrowpolice you're clueless pal."