Published at 07:58, Friday, 03 August 2012

Cumbria's Blue Peter and BBC Olympics presenter Helen Skelton has closed her Twitter account.

Helen Skelton

She tweeted on Wednesday afternoon that she doesn't have the "thick skin" to handle negative comments directed at her.

Skelton wrote: "Turns out I don't have very thick skin after all so I am closing my twitter account. Enjoy the games. Signing off, skelts x"

It is currently unclear what sparked Skelton's tweet, but it is assumed that she has been sent a negative message from at least one follower.

Her Twitter account was deactivated late on Wednesday evening, although many of her followers encouraged her to stay online.

Writer Graham Linehan came out in support of Skelton by retweeting her message, adding: "Another one down. This is why we can't have nice things."

A teenager has been given a warning and released on bail after he sent offensive tweets to Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Skelton became engaged to rugby player Richie Myler in March.

Skelton received dozens of messages of support from her followers, while others expressed their surprise at the fact that a harmless character such as Skelton could be on the receiving end of unpleasant messages.

In addition to presenting the long-running children's show and Countryfile on the BBC, Skelton has taken part in a number of fundraising treks for Sport Relief, run an ultra-marathon in Namibia and kayaked the Amazon.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk