A police officer in Sanya, Hainan province, has been suspended and is being investigated after a woman posted pictures of him online and said that the man drove her to a hot spring resort and restaurants using his police car, local authorities told media on Tuesday.

The woman, which uses the nickname "Rain Beauty", uploaded three pictures on her micro blog showing herself and a man in a police car, and the police ID card of the man.

The woman said that the man was her boyfriend, and that he drove her to a hot spring resort in Haikou, the provincial capital, in a police car.

The photos have caught the attention of Web users, and netizens criticized the man for damaging the image of the police force.

The Yangcheng Evening News reported on Wednesday that the Sanya police force confirmed to the newspaper that Wang Pengfei, whose police ID was shown in the pictures, is being investigated. They added that Wang admitted that he knew the woman, but that he said that he was not in a relationship with her.

According to hinews.cn, the news portal of the Hainan Daily media group, the Sanya police bureau said that Wang has been suspended.

The report also said that the woman, a native of Hubei province who was working as a singer in a nightclub in Haikou, has returned to her hometown.

Sanya police have sent a team to Hubei province to look for the woman for further investigations, and will publish the results as soon as possible, the report said.