ANDY Bell quit as Carlisle United vice-president over vile Hillsborough tweets - as it emerged Twitter have no evidence his account was "hacked".

Sources at the social media giant have told the News & Star there was no activity on Bell's account that suggests a hacker was responsible for the inflammatory comments.

And, as the businessman also confirmed he would no longer be sponsoring the club, police also said they had no record of Bell having asked them to investigate whether his social media account had been sabotaged.

The revelations follow Bell's decision yesterday to relinquish his position at the Brunton Park club, claiming his decision was made to "preserve" United's good name.

He said he was standing down from his vice-president position and also ending his firm Bookies.com's link to the Brunton Park club, which has led to six-figure sponsorship over the last five years.

His described his decision to quit, following talks with the United hierarchy, as "difficult".

Bell's statement did not refer to his earlier claim, on Wednesday, that he believed his account had been hacked and his claim he had asked Twitter to investigate.

He said: "I have always had the best intentions for the club and it appears that severing ties will help preserve the positive reputation that Carlisle United have forged in the local and wider community.

"When the 2015/16 season finishes, I will no longer sponsor Carlisle United in any commercial capacity, something which has been discussed and agreed with the chairman [Andrew Jenkins].

"However, I will continue to be a Carlisle United fan for the rest of my life and wish them nothing but the best as a supporter.

"I’ve enjoyed sponsoring the club during the past five years, through good times and bad. One of the proudest days of my life was seeing the United team playing with my business emblazoned on the shirt.

"I’d like to thank Andrew Jenkins for giving me an honorary position at Carlisle United FC and for the opportunity to help my local club.

"It’s been a fantastic five years and I look forward to now watching them from the terraces."

Bell's decision came three days after insensitive remarks about the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, where 96 Liverpool fans died, appeared on his Twitter account.

The tweets, on the landmark day an inquest jury ruled the 96 were unlawfully killed, made reference to the Heysel disaster, compensation-chasing disaster victims and the suggestion that it was a "good reason to leave the EU" because human rights laws had helped the families achieve justice.

Bell did not respond to questions from the News & Star regarding the timeline of Tuesday night's tweets, or whether he had asked the police to investigate.

Twitter's privacy policy would have enabled Bell to retrieve his user and login data, which could have helped determine evidence of a hack, even after having deleted his account late on Tuesday night.

The Carlisle United Official Supporters' Club, who had called on Bell to provide evidence to support his claim he had been hacked, yesterday said it is now time to move on from the episode.

They said: "It is very sad that the situation has come to this conclusion.

"We thank Andy Bell for his contribution to the club over the past few years.

"We must all now move on from this and focus our collective efforts to ensure the success of the football club in the future."

Carlisle United did not wish to comment further while Twitter did not respond to the News & Star 's request for further comment.