An officer with Staffordshire Police has been disciplined after using their own Facebook account to repeat an “inappropriate” comment by a stand-up comic.

The unnamed bobby was given a written warning, but the comic who was quoted and the details of what was said have not been released.

Nationally, at least two officers were sacked, seven quit and 150 faced disciplinary action after posting inappropriate photos or comments on Facebook in the last four years.

Officers used the popular social networking site, which has 30 million users in the UK, to harass former partners and ex-colleagues, to comment on others’ wives, and to suggest they had beaten up members of the public during protests.

Some even revealed details of police operations, tried to befriend victims of crime, or were caught out by inappropriate photographs, forces said.

The details, released following a request under the Freedom of Information Act, come as a review into police corruption found there was a “significant blurring” between officers’ personal and professional lives on social networking sites which risked damaging the service’s reputation.

One officer with the Hampshire force was dismissed without notice in 2009 for posting a racist comment on Facebook, the force said.

The figures, from 41 of the 43 forces in England and Wales, cover between 2008 and 2010, but a second officer was sacked earlier this year for referring to another officer as a “grass” and a “liar” on Facebook and harassing a female colleague.

Seven resigned following complaints.

A South Yorkshire officer resigned following an allegation of improper disclosure of information on Facebook, while others posted inappropriate comments or pictures.

Another officer, Pc Nestor Costa, of Devon and Cornwall Police, was fined three days pay in 2008 after he called for violence against suspects in custody. There were no recorded complaints against West Midlands Police officers, but five against those in West Mercia.

Roger Baker, who led a review into police corruption for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, said: “Social networking is seen as a risk by all forces and authorities, but there are limited or inconsistent policies around what is acceptable, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do.

“We found a significant blurring between people’s professional lives on social networking sites and their private lives which may be in the public domain and private lives which probably should remain extremely private.”