Charlotte Church calls police over Twitter death threats after insulting Nigel Farage

Charlotte Church says she will go to the police after being bombarded with death threats and sexist abuse on social media for calling the recently departed Ukip leader Nigel Farage a "piece of s**t". The Welsh singer faced an enormous backlash from pro-Brexit supporters after she took to Twitter to attack Farage following his resignation speech on Monday (4 July).

In reference to Farage's statement that he was stepping down as leader so he could have his life back, Church tweeted: "I want my f*****g European Union back you piece of s**t!!!!!!"

The tweet was shared by more than 15,000 people and was soon followed by abuse. One user, under the Twitter name Issac Thompson, wrote: "LEAVE NIGEL ALONE B***H! He'll have more supporters than you'll ever have, go kill yourself!"

Another added: "Charlotte why do (sic) you fuck off and die just like your music career did ha ha." Others went on to threaten to "cut her", while several hurled sexist abuse saying women should keep out of politics.

Church, who was an avid supporter of remaining in the EU, said she was "shocked" at the level of abuse she received, tweeting: "A lot of hate on here today. I understand that this is a very divisive time but I'm shocked at the level of and type of abuse I've had today."

Some users accused her of being the first to hurl abuse with her expletive-laden tweet at Farage. One user said: "You do realise by abusing him, you're actually engaging in the very hate you loathe so much?"

But she later took to Facebook to say she was reporting the messages to the police. She said: "Maybe I shouldn't have lowered myself to calling Farage names but the messages of abuse and threats I'm getting on here are horrifying. I will be reporting them to the police. I understand many of us have different opinions on this but lets try and stem this swell of hate. I will heed my own advice, but I find Farage very difficult to understand/ have any positive feelings for."

The post prompted further slurs, including one in which she was called a "cretinous c**t". But some sent messages of support for the 30-year-old entertainer, telling her to "ignore these horrible people" and "stick to what you believe in".

Farage's resignation came after he had himself reportedly become increasingly concerned about a series of death threats he and his family had received.

One party insider said Farage had given a statement to the police about threats made against his family, which have increased since the Brexit vote on 23 June. Messages on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites even made calls for the Ukip leader to be shot.

"He has been very concerned about the death threats. They have really got to him," one source told the Daily Express, a newspaper which backed Brexit.

During his resignation speech on Monday, he said his decision to step down was to get "my life back". He said: "During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now. It has been a huge chunk of my life doing this and it's not easy, perhaps when you feel a degree of ownership of something, perhaps to let it go. But it has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me."