Hong Kong  - A Hong Kong policeman and policewoman were Friday facing possible disciplinary action after posing for jokey Facebook pictures while on duty.

The pair, who were on bicycle patrol in the city's rural Tai Po district at the time, posted 37 pictures of themselves on Facebook, making faces at the camera in some of the shots.

Both are carrying the service revolvers issued to all Hong Kong officers, and some observers have criticized them for being clearly off guard while they were supposed to be on patrol.

The pictures show the two officers separately and together and posing with their bicycles as they patrol a number of villages in the Tai Po district, according to Friday's Hong Kong Standard newspaper.

A police spokesman confirmed that an internal inquiry had been launched into the incident but said that the two officers had not been suspended.

The incident comes days after a furore over a group of 20 on-duty Hong Kong marine police officers who took a police launch to an alcohol-fuelled farewell party for a colleague at a seafood restaurant. (dpa)