Briton arrested over email he didn't write

A wealthy businessman in Britain was arrested while at home with his wife and young son because of an email he had not written.

Council officials deemed the email, sent from the man's workplace, 'offensive' to gypsies.

The man, who does not wish to be identified, also had his computer and internet equipment seized at the time.

The email was about a planning appeal by a gypsy, and included the phrase: "It's the do as they likey attitude that I am against", reports Daily Mail.

Staff considered that offensive because 'likey' rhymes with a derogatory term for a gypsy - 'pikey'.

The man was held for four hours before it established he was not responsible for the email, which had been sent at his work by a fellow employee.

The arrest followed a three-year battle by a gypsy family to win planning permission for a mobile home on land outside the town of Battle.

The email also read: 'Get a job, get planning permission but more to the point get out of the neighbourhood.'

Sussex Police said they had arrested the businessman over "suspicion of committing a racial or religious-aggravated offence".

- NZ HERALD STAFF