Image copyright Staffordshire Police/ Getty Images

A police e-fit of a "very skinny woman" has been mocked on social media for its resemblance to the alien E.T.

Staffordshire Police published the image following a burglary in Lichfield and it has attracted more than 300 comments, many mocking it.

One user asked whether the thief's getaway vehicle had been a "BMX with a basket on the front".

The force press office said it was a "valid appeal" and hoped it would produce useful information as a result.

When the image, with wide eyes and a long neck, was shared on Facebook, it elicited a different sort of response.

'Mulder and Scully'

One user wrote: "Don't think E.T. is going to phone the police."

While another added: "Someone find this woman urgently. She needs to phone home."

And a further comment read: "If I see her I won't be calling Staffordshire Police, I'll be calling Mulder and Scully."

Other users compared the woman in the image to Coronation Street character Gail Platt and to Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort in a wig.

The e-fit was published in response to an appeal for information about four people who forced entry to a home on Richard Cooper Road in Shenstone just before 21:00 GMT on 3 January.

Cash and electronic equipment were taken before the offenders fled the scene in an Audi.

The force said the suspect had been described as a a very skinny woman in her mid 30s with light blonde hair. It said she spoke with a Birmingham accent and was wearing a green knitted top and pale leggings.

In reply to the comments, police said: "Thank you for all the interest and shares, we can confirm E.T. was at home and no fictional soap characters are potential suspects."

Warwickshire Police attracted similar ridicule for an e-fit likened to the Cheshire Cat.

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