An ex-UKIP parliamentary candidate who tweeted that the parents of a Syrian boy who drowned were to blame for his death has apologised and deleted his account.

From yesterday: "Syrian boy's death was fault of greedy parents" tweets failed Wimbledon UKIP candidate

Peter Bucklitsch had tweeted: "The little Syrian boy was well clothed & well fed. He died because his parents were greedy for the good life in Europe. Queue jumping costs."

When immediately challenged online he tweeted: "Predictable unthinking outrage.

"Turkey is not a place where the family was in danger. Leaving that safe place put the family in peril."

He told the BBC last night: "I apologise for the evident distress this caused, and have removed it.

"It was an inelegant way of agreeing that the problems lie in the regions where conditions precipitate such a strong desire to reach a place where life can begin again."

The former 2015 UKIP candidate for Wimbledon also deleted his account.

In the space of a few hours he had been criticised by Conservative MP Stephen Hammond, who defeated him in May's General Election, new Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, ex-footballer Stan Collymore and thousands of others online.

Fellow party member and UKIP London Mayoral hopeful Suzanne Evans said he could have made his point "in a more humane way with rather more sympathy".