If you are going to "destroy America", don't tell Twitter! This is the lesson two young Brits learned when they took a flight to Los Angeles.

As Leigh Van Bryan, 26, from Coventry and his friend Emily Banting, 24, from Birmingham landed in Los Angeles, they were greeted by the U.S. special agents who handcuffed them and confiscated their passports.

Department of Homeland Security, which rutinely monitors the public postings of users on Twitter and Facebook, spotted the tweet by @LeighBryan to his friend @MelissaxWalton in which he asks "Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America". Mr Bryan tried to explain to the agents that the word "destroy" is a British slang word for "party" ("destroyed" is also used by Brits to mean "very drunk"), but they ignored him and threw him into jail with Mexican drugdealers.

Ms Banting told the Daily Mail: "The officials told us we were not allowed in to the country because of Leigh's tweet. They wanted to know what we were going to do. They asked why we wanted to destroy America and we tried to explain it meant to get trashed and party."

After 12 hours in a prison cell, the couple were refused entry into the US and put on the plane back to the UK. They will need to apply for a visa if they intend to return to the US in the future.

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