Paper's editor writes to parents of missing girl after tweet from its official Twitter account about contestant Tamera Foster

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The Sun has apologised to Kate and Gerry McCann over a tweet by one of its official Twitter accounts that made a joke referring to the disappearance of the couple's daughter, Madeleine.

During Saturday night's The X Factor live show the Sun Showbiz Twitter account tweeted about hotly-tipped contestant Tamera Foster, relating to press coverage that she was recently caught shoplifting.

"Forget make up, the only way Tamera's gonna lose this is if she admits to stealing Maddie," the tabloid tweeted via @TheSun_Showbiz to almost 30,000 followers.

The Sun Showbiz tweet about Tamera Foster that referred to Madeleine McCann

The tweet immediately provoked a furious backlash that resulted in the publisher deleting the message and eventually issuing an apology.

"We would like to say sorry for a tweet that was sent out earlier," the publisher tweeted via @TheSun_Showbiz at 10.18pm, almost 15 minutes after the X Factor had finished. "It was an inappropriate attempt to make a joke, and we got it wrong."

Sun editor David Dinsmore followed up the Twitter apology with a letter to Kate and Gerry McCann expressing his "sincerest apologies" for the incident.

The letter has been sent to the McCanns' longtime spokesman, Clarence Mitchell.

It is understood that a freelance journalist was responsible for the tweet, and that some form of disciplinary action has been taken.

The Trinity Mirror-owned Sunday People used the episode to make a dig at its red-top rival on Twitter.

"The Sun, having a go at the 'funny tweeting' thing there. And failing miserably," the People tweeted to its almost 13,000 followers.

It followed up with some sarcastic piece of advice directly to its rival: "@TheSun_Showbiz Social media can be quite tricky, but the only real golden rule is DON'T DO MADELEINE MCCANN 'jokes'. You're welcome."

The incident coincided with Sun's publication of a heavily promoted 12-page pullout in Saturday's edition called "The Maddie Files".

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