US sheriff cancels Valentine’s Day due to bad weather

A US sheriff says he has cancelled Valentine’s Day because of the bad weather, telling men they are off the hook for the romantic gifts their partners may be expecting.

Sheriff Scott Berry in Oconee County, Georgia, took to Facebook to announce his decision after an ice storm slammed into the state.

He wrote: "The Oconee County County Sheriffs Office announces that Valentines Day has been CANCELLED from a line North of I-16 to the Georgia/Tennessee border.

"Men who live in the designated 'NO VALENTINES DAY ZONE' are exempt from having to run out and buy lottery scratchers and Hershey bars from the corner stores until February 18, 2014, due to ice, snow, freezing rain."

The post was in fun and was shared more than 1,500 times.

Some people failed to see the funny side however, including one man who called the sheriff’s office to protest at the decision, saying snow up north isn’t a big deal.

"We just got a phone call from a man with a 517 area code (Michigan) that was furious and wanting to know who we think we are for cancelling Valentine's Day," read a status update from Oconee County Georgia Sheriff's Office's Facebook page.

"'You're not a mayor,' he said. He wanted us to know that two feet of snow is nothing and that it happens all the time. We pointed out that it doesn't happen in Georgia all the time.

"He kept on until we asked him if he realized it was a joke.

"Then he got mad about that."