The new Liberal Democrat leader has apologised after a tweet was sent from his account comparing the gay community to “fish” and “frogs”.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has apologised for the tweet, which was sent from his account last night.

He also pledged to investigate the social media hack after the tweet also suggested homosexuality is “curable”.

It was posted in response to a message from the British Humanist Association giving, after they shared details of Stonewall’s recent study into the medical profession, which showed a large amount of health workers in the UK still believe that “gay people can be cured”.

In a reply to the post, the tweet from Mr Farron’s account read: “They can be, most sexual disorientation is caused by chemical leaching…check out fish and frogs,” reports the Northwest Evening Mail.

The offending post has since been deleted.

Mr Farron said: “I am investigating after a fake and malicious tweet appeared to be posted from my account this evening. I apologise for any offence caused.”

According to the new research from Stonewall, 10 percent of NHS and private sector health workers have been in a situation where a colleague has expressed the belief that being LGBT is curable.

Shockingly, the percentage jumps to 22 in London.

Mr Farron faced criticism after his election as leader of the Lib Dems last week, after his poor voting record on LGBT rights came under heavy scrutiny.

One newspaper labelled him “the illiberal democrat”, before he was mocked for refusing to answer a question on the subject three times, when directly asked if he believes gay sex is a sin.

However, he later claimed that he regretted some of the decisions he had made regarding the LGBT community and promised that the fight for LGBT rights was at the “top of my agenda”.