Rio Ferdinand sparks White House security alert

Rio Ferdinand reportedly sparked a White House security alert after a series of posts on Twitter.

The Manchester United footballer was at the White House with his teammates as part of their pre-season US tour. Ferdinand posted pictures of the president's security guards and the state dining room.

He tweeted: "The security needs beefing up here at the White House!!" before secret service agents removed the pictures from his phone and Twitter account.

"Whoa....some1 has got into my phone + taken down my pics off twitter....this is deep...is jack Bauer in Washington?! (sic)," he wrote afterwards. "What an experience having the opportunity to go into the White House, thank you.....now where are my pics????

"My pic of the security was #removed quick, rapido, sharpish, fast....they don't play here in DC...I feel like I'm on 24 right now #baffled."

A team meeting with Barack Obama was cancelled as he had to deal with the ongoing US debt crisis.