A Somerset man has been arrested after a food writer and campaigner was bombarded with homophobic abuse online.

Jack Monroe, a Guardian food writer, blogger and campaigner has apparently quit Twitter after being bombarded with homophobic abuse by someone claiming to be from UKIP.

Ms Monroe said the "hate" and "vitriol" she had received was "suffocating", and that she felt the social media platform was no longer "a safe place to be".

But UKIP said the abusive Twitter account is a fake written by a Twitter troll, calling its contents "vile".

The account purports to be from Alex Wood, a former UKIP election candidate from Somerset.

The abuse came after Ms Monroe wrote a comment piece for the Guardian following Thursday's election debate in which she praised Green Party leader Natalie Bennett's stance on immigration and criticised Ukip leader Nigel Farage's "circus act".

The poster, writing under the handle @Alex_WoodUKIP, wrote to Ms Monroe: "Your sick form of Lesbianism and militant queerism is destroying this country. Get out and give us Britain back! #VoteUKIP."

Police said a 22-year-old man from the Yeovil area was being questioned.

Det Insp Phil Jones, of Avon and Somerset Police, said all reports of hate crime were taken "extremely seriously".

UKIP denounced the @Alex_WoodUKIP Twitter account as a fake and said the party was treating the sentiments expressed on it - which include a link to an overtly racist blog - with "contempt".