If 'being offensive' was a crime, then British prisons would be even more overcrowded than they are now.

Even worse, felons would be odds on to do time sharing a cell 23 hours a day with someone likely to be incredibly rude to them.

At the weekend, Merseyside Police was obliged to apologise for an advert on the side of a van which was touring Wirral promoting the constabulary's attitude to hate crime.

The bobbies came under online fire after @MerPol Wirral tweeted images of the large poster which included the tag line: "Being offensive is an offence".

Showing support for the LGBTQ community, the poster integrated the rainbow flag, and additional text explained that hate crime would not be tolerated "on any level".

The police tweet reported that: "Lots of positive discussion was had with the essential shoppers and together we will defeat hate in our community".

Now, even though the words "being offensive is an offence" were clumsy shorthand, legally incorrect and poorly thought out, it was pretty clear what sort of offensiveness was meant to be under consideration.

Nevertheless, the mobile advert inspired a very minor furore online - which turned out to be the small social media spark igniting a national news story for, amongst others, the Daily Mail, which blasted the "woke" police of Merseyside.

Some tweeters had simply pointed out that the words on the billboard were wrong, while others believed they revealed something more sinister.

One wrote: "Utterly chilling. In a free society the right to be offensive is fundamental. This isn't North Korea!"

Well, no, it isn't. If it was, people found guilty of trumped up charges of offensiveness would be tied to posts and have anti-aircraft guns fired at them.

Another opined: "I often wonder if I am being paranoid in my worries about virtue signalling and identity politics. Then I see drivel like this. Absolutely shameful."

But is it? Really? Far better to virtue signal than 'vice' signal - which was really the point of the anti-hate messaging.

The irony is, of course being offensive is not an offence; but neither is being "woke" - which some people now choose to deploy as a term of abuse. They find the whole concept of "woke" offensive - and would like to see it banished from the face of the earth.

"Woke" politics can sometimes be perplexing, but it doesn't threaten our freedom; it's the ideas of people using that freedom to try to make their voices heard.

Of course it is easy to understand why some were irritated by the poster. It wasn't Merseyside Police's finest public relations hour, and an apology duly followed.

Superintendent Martin Earl said: 'We would like to clarify that ''being offensive'' is not in itself an offence.

"A message on an ad van and social media this weekend by the Local Policing Team on the Wirral to encourage people to report hate crime although well-intentioned was incorrect and we apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

"Hate crime is an offence and will not be tolerated. Hate crime can come in various guises that can include assault, criminal damage, verbal and written online abuse.

"Our Hate Crime Co-ordinators draw on a wealth of experience and expertise to provide effective and above all sensitive and appropriate support for victims.

"We would also like to remind people we have a number of third party reporting centres including fire stations and activity centres which enable people who feel more comfortable discussing their issues with an independent party to come forward."