Fernando Torres - an apology

In an article that we published earlier today, we falsely stated that Fernando Torres had been stopped by police and given a ticket for speeding.

The article was accompanied by pictures of Mr Torres talking to a police officer.

The true position is that Mr Torres complained to the police about a car that appeared to be following him. The photographs showed Mr Torres making his complaint to the police about the incident.

Our publication of the false story was on the internet, via Click Liverpool, for less than 25 minutes and was taken-down as soon as the true position was made known.

We are concerned to put the record straight and to offer a full and sincere apology to Mr Torres and Liverpool FC for any embarrassment caused by the erroneous publication.

The story was supplied to us from a normally reliable source, but on this occasion the information was wrong.

It was a mistake on our part to publish the item before we had checked it thoroughly with police. It should not have happened and we are sorry that it did.

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This is a statement issued by Merseyside Police after we enquired about the incident.

Merseyside Police can confirm that a 26-year-old motorist from the Woolton area alerted a passing police patrol to concerns he had about the behaviour of a fellow driver, who he believed was following him.

The officer took down the 26-year-old's details and then spoke to the other motorist, who had also stopped. Both drivers then went on their way.

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