A video that appears to show people "stealing" bottled water from London Marathon runners has appeared on social media and has been widely shared.

The video, filmed in Deptford, has been shared almost 300,000 times within 24 hours on Facebook.

There is one problem: The video is two years old, and what it claims to show is not accurate.

The misleading video is from 2016 and at the time prompted an investigation by London Marathon organisers.

It turned out the water in question was left over after the marathon runners had passed and the onlookers were told to help themselves.

This has not stopped the video from being shared widely, both this year and in 2017, claiming that it was from the current year’s marathon.

That is despite the fact the people in the video are wearing warm coats while the temperature during the marathon this year was a record high 23C.

One comment posted on the video said: “Well this is what happens when you do not have BOARDERS 2 protect and keep out the BULLSHIT!!! They have let all them People into there country! And now looks what is HAPPENING!! [sic]”

However once it was shared in the more local Gravesend and Dartford groups, locals were quick to point out how misleading it was.

One commenter said: “This comes up every year, they're allowed to take the excess water so they don't have to pay someone to collect it - it works out cheaper than hiring another lorry.”

Another person said: “It's from two years ago but people keep putting it up to get a certain message across.”