“WE DON’T arrive in our Hummers, with sunglasses and designer clothes,” explained crime scene investigator Helen Evans referring to the hit US TV show based on her profession.

So, West Midlands Police decided to lift the lid on the real-life day-to-day work of their scientific sleuths in helping to bring criminals to justice.

In this UK first, investigators from the force tweeted live from crime scenes on micro-blogging site Twitter to provide a unique insight into the world of forensic scene investigators (FSIs).

And they even landed a celebrity follower in comedian Jack Dee with the idea proving a hit with the public for its “fascinating” eye-opener.

The ‘tweet-a-thon’ was given the go-ahead after police Twitter followers said they wanted to learn more about FSI roles having had their interest fuelled by shows such as CSI and Dexter.

Twitter tracked Helen’s day as she visited a variety of crime scenes across inner-city Birmingham, including a series of burglaries where she lifted fingerprints and footprints, clues to the identity of the culprits.

At her first crime scene of the day, an attempted burglary, Helen found smashed glass and spots of blood which could provide DNA.

At the second crime scene, another burlgary, she tweeted: “Just lifted a footprint from a window ledge. This will be entered into the footprint impression database.

“We should be able to get a match on the make and model of the shoe within days.”