Allison Pearson said she was "dumbfounded" when police turned up on her doorstep last Sunday and allegedly told her she was being investigated for a non-crime hate incident. But the police have said the investigation is into a criminal offence.

Allison Pearson, a Telegraph columnist, said police knocked on her door on Remembrance Sunday and informed her she was being investigated for alleged incitement of racial hatred over a post online that has since been deleted.

Essex Police say they are investigating Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over an alleged criminal offence, rather than for a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) as she has suggested.

Essex Police has defended its actions after Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was left “dumbstruck” by a visit to her home on Remembrance Sunday over a social media post. Officers visited Pearson as part of an investigation into alleged incitement to racial hatred, following a complaint from a member of the public, the force said.

Allison Pearson, a Telegraph columnist, is under investigation for allegedly stirring up racial hatred in a tweet posted, and then quickly deleted, last year.