A Bermudian serving as a patrolman in a US police force was promoted to heartthrob status after a cheeky social-media message to his sergeant went viral.

Jamere Griffin, 26, born in Bermuda and an officer with the Gulfport Police Department in Mississippi, wanted to cheer up his sergeant because he could be “a little uptight sometimes”.

So he sent him a message last Friday that he had hit a pothole that "tore the front end off“ his patrol car .

The sergeant replied: “Send me a picture”.

Mr Griffin sent a smiling selfie and the sergeant’s abrupt response was: “Of the damage”.

The exchange, shared by the police department, has attracted almost 5,000 comments, including a significant number of smitten women, had 30,000 shares and 66,000 reactions on Facebook.

Mr Griffin, who moved to Mississippi at the age of eight to live with his father, told The Royal Gazette: “It was a joke, I was trying to get my sergeant to lighten up and give him a laugh. I didn’t really hit the pothole. Luckily, he did laugh.”

Potholes are a significant problem in the area.

The exchange was posted on Gulfport Police Department’s Facebook page under the caption: “When you wake up to this text first thing Friday morning... #SayNoToPotholes #TGIF #WeveGotJokesToday #FriyayVibes”.

Many of the comments were made by women keen to know if Mr Griffin was spoken for.

One woman wrote: “Can we agree that his smile is contagious?! And can Gulfport PD please answer if Jamere is single. A lot of the ladies on here clearly want to know”.

Another wrote: “Handsome feller! I may need to hit a pothole where he can come to my rescue”.

Mr Griffin, whose mother and her side of the family live in Bermuda, said he was flattered - but that he had bad news for would-be girlfriends.

He added he was engaged and had two sons and a little girl on the way.

But he said: “It makes me feel good. It lets me know I am not as ugly as I thought I was.”