Calls are being made for a Carlisle city councillor to resign after she sparked an online Twitter row over her comments about people on benefits.

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is calling on Fiona Robson to resign, saying her "deliberately inflammatory" tweet fueled hatred towards people on benefits.

Mrs Robson, who is a Conservative councillor representing Stanwix Urban, wrote a post on Twitter in relation to the high-profile NHS march in London on Saturday.

She posted: "How many people claiming to be unfit to work were fit enough to travel to & physically MARCH around London yesterday?!"

She later apologised, but the tweet caused uproar on social media with about 2,500 people commenting on it before Mrs Robson deleted her Twitter account yesterday.

One Twitter user said: "My terminally ill sister, declared fit to work but given til April/May to live, managed 5 mins. Thanks for your interest."

Gail Ward, 59, of DPAC in Cumbria and the North East has called on Mrs Robson to stand down.

She said of the tweet: "I was absolutely appalled. I was shocked that somebody could be so naive, but that wasn't the point really - I think it was a deliberately inflammatory remark designed to provoke a reaction but not the reaction she actually wanted.

"This just fuels hatred of people who happen to be in the unfortunate position to have to claim."

She added: "A person in a public office shouldn't be making those kind of comments."

Labour councillor Les Tickner , who is deputy leader of Carlisle City Council , said Mrs Robson's comments were a reflection of the Conservative Party policy.

He said: "I am not at all surprised by the recent comments in regard to the sick and the unemployed.

"Being unemployed and being too ill to work is seen by some Conservatives as a life choice. There but by the grace of God as the saying goes."

Some social media users have even been sharing the councillor's mobile number and email address.

Mrs Robson has been supported by her fellow Conservative councillors however.

John Mallinson , leader of the Carlisle city council Conservative Group, said that although he wouldn't have asked the question himself, he would not be calling for her to resign.

He said: "That's a matter for her, but I shouldn't think she'd be standing down over it."

Mrs Robson declined to comment on the calls for her resignation.

She previously admitted to the News & Star that she had been "naive" with her original post and said she has had incredibly abusive tweets from some, and as a result regretted her initial post.