Norwich daily the Eastern Daily Press has apologised for using a picture of a woman in a headscarf holding an AK47 assault rifle alongside a story about Syrian refugee families arriving in the county.

The picture (top) shows the woman dressed in black next to two young children, with the weapon held across the front of her body.

It is understood to have been online for about two hours, having also been posted on Facebook and Twitter, before the error was spotted and the image swapped for another.

An apology for the error was issued through the EDP’s official Twitter account shortly before 10pm yesterday.

It said: “Dear readers. A picture was used in error today to accompany a story about Syrian refugees. It shouldn’t have been.

“We apologise wholeheartedly for the offence caused. As soon as we became aware it was removed.”

The EDP is owned by regional publisher Archant, which held its annual internal awards ceremony last night.