American actress Demi Moore and her fans on social networking website Twitter have helped to avert a possible suicide bid by a Californian woman.

The actress, one of the most frequent and high-profile Twitter users, was messaged Friday while in the south of France by a woman who threatened to 'get a knife', reported the contactmusic online.

'Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn't waste time,' the message said.

'Hope you are joking,' replied Moore, under her Mrs. Kutcher Twitter name.

But after the woman responded in turn with 'good bye. Going to kill myself now', Moore's followers traced the poster to San Jose and contacted police there.

Officers were sent to a 48-year-old woman's home, from where she was taken to hospital for psychiatric care.

'My wife reported a suicide attempt based on a tweet (message) she got and saved someone's life. The woman is in the hospital now,' Moore's husband Ashton Kutcher later wrote on Twitter.

'It is my understanding that the situation was not a joke and that through the collective efforts here action was taken to provide help,' he added.