'Coronation Street' actor Jack P Shepherd has made a grovelling apology after a Twitter backlash to his jokes about the fire in Manchester Dogs' Home, in which more than 40 animals were killed.
Jack P Shepherd - grinning in this pic, but grovelling today following a series of ill-judged comments about the arson attack that claimed the lives of more than 40 animals at Manchester Dogs' Home
The popular actor, who plays David Platt in the soap, wrote a series of tweets following news of the tragedy on Thursday, kicking off with, "I have a million 'hot dog' jokes."
Several of his 296,000 Twitter followers didn't see the funny side, and he followed this with, "You guys need to lighten up. #GetItLightenUp."
This caused even more outrage, with some fans even suggesting it was time to boycott 'Coronation Street', according to the Manchester Evening News.
At this point, Jack was forced to eat some humble pie, with a follow up tweet on Saturday, in which he apologised and revealed he'd made a donation to the Dogs' Home, which has been established for 115 years.
"I sincerely apologise for any offence I have caused," he wrote. "This was not intended to be a malicious tweet and I didn't consider the offence it would cause. At the time I didn't realise the scale of the tragedy but that doesn't excuse my behaviour. I now realise how insensitive I have been. I have made a donation to the MCR dogs home and I'm very sorry for my behaviour."
A teenager has been arrested and bailed following a suspected arson attack on the Dogs' Home. He is being protected by his family following death threats.
Celebrities including famous dog-lovers Ricky Gervais and Simon Cowell have rushed to make donations to the Home, with money raised topping more than £1.3million in the three days since the tragedy.