A man from the Lizard peninsula has outraged people on social media by posting offensive comments about the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London.

At least 17 people died in the fire, and authorities fear the death toll may reach the hundreds, after cladding on the outside of the 24-storey building caught alight.

The man, who we are choosing not to identify, wrote: "Big fire in West London. No need to panic as most of the people caught in it were Muslims. Phew, I was worried for a while."

The comment, made on Facebook on June 14, was followed by two smiley face emojis and received nearly 100 replies from people appalled by his statement.

The Facebook account belonging to the man has since been deleted.

Tracey Emberton replied to the comment, saying: "Disgusting attitude this post has! Their religion, colour or anything else about them does not make them deserve what has happened, it makes me really sad to see posts like this."

And Freda Knowles Mitchell said: "You should be ashamed of yourself, how pathetic and what a horrible person you are, hope your friends delete you, nasty vile excuse for a man."

Gillian Luckham also replied to the comment, he said: "How anyone watching this horrendous tragedy unfold can even think of making idiotic remarks like this is beyond me.

"You are all that is wrong in this world you pathetic man. Love and prayers with all the people of London."