Pebbles Hooper resigned from her position as a gossip columnist after likening the deaths of a mother and her three children to "natural selection".

Socialite Pebbles Hooper has backtracked and apologised for her comments that an Ashburton family's deaths were "natural selection".



The daughter of fashion designers Denise L'Estrange-Corbet and Francis Hooper mocked the deaths of Ashburton mother Cindy George and her three children – Pio, Teuruaa and Teiyzshwaun – on social media on Saturday but backtracked on Sunday after widespread condemnation and revulsion from the Ashburton community.



Ashburton mayor Angus McKay said Hooper's comment was "absolutely outrageous".



"It shows the intelligence of the person who made the comment," he said.



Ashburton woman Jackie Mowatt said she couldn't believe someone could make a comment that was "so disgusting".



Eileen Hagar described Hooper's comment as "cruel and very nasty".



"Put herself in that woman's position, and that family's position."

Police believe the family died from the fumes of a car left running in a garage to keep the battery "ticking over".

Hooper's comment, posted to Twitter on Saturday evening, was also met with a barrage of criticism from her 6800 followers who labelled the tweet "tasteless" and "repulsive".

HOOPER APOLOGISES



Cindy George and her children, Teuruaa, Telyzshaun and Pio.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday, Hooper said her intentions were not to cause outrage or anguish to those involved with the Ashburton deaths.

"I deeply regret any distress caused to the family. I apologise for my wording and take responsibility for upsetting those involved, and I was careless in my actions," she wrote.

"The issue I regrettably tried to raise was about parental negligence and the precautions needed to ensure the safety of those who are unable to care for themselves.



"I never aimed to target or isolate this issue to one family. Again, for my actions and have the family in my thoughts."



Hooper writes a gossip column for the Herald on Sunday and the paper's editor, Miriyana Alexander, said the incident was being taken seriously.



"We apologise that this tweet has caused distress – the comment is obviously not a view I or the Herald on Sunday share.



"We are treating it extremely seriously and will be taking this matter up with her this week."



Hooper's contrition was met by disdain and scepticism by Twitter users.

It appears Hooper expected a backlash, having prefaced her message with the words: "I'll get major slack for this, but leaving a car running inside a closed garage while you're kids are in the house is natural selection".

While the tweet was quickly deleted, Hooper responded to other Twitter users by saying "those kids died under completely preventable circumstances".

She claimed she was not deliberately seeking attention but was "just stating her opinion".

"I'm not looking to be controversial or outrageous, simply stating the fact that those kids deserved to be safe," she tweeted.