A comment posted to Twitter by a member of Southern Vectis staff on Friday night has resulted in outrage from several Isle of Wight female Tweeters as well as the local ward councillor.
The Tweet read,
11/04/14@ 22:30 No delays to report so far, some stunning females walking through tonight. I think its time for a coffee and a cake mm T/L
— Southern Vectis (@SouthernVectis) April 11, 2014
‘Sexist’ comment
Responses swiftly followed from several Island tweeters expressing their disgust for the comment on the company’s official Twitter account.
They labelled the comment ‘completely inappropriate’, ‘chauvinistic’ and ‘creepy’.
Unreserved apology from Southern Vectis
OnTheWight got in touch with Southern Vectis’ general manager Matt Kitchin earlier this morning to see whether he was aware of the tweet and the response it’d received on Twitter.
He told OnTheWight,
“We are aware of an inappropriate tweet, posted to our official account yesterday evening. Whilst we encourage our controllers to post in a friendly and human manner, we acknowledge that this tweet was completely unacceptable and we apologise, unreservedly, for any offence it may have caused.
“The tweet has been removed from our account and we are now formally dealing with this matter internally.”
Cllr Whitehouse: “Outrageous tweet”
Cllr Chris Whitehouse who is the Conservative ward councillor for Newport West said,
“I am frankly appalled to have my attention drawn to an outrageous tweet from the official Southern Vectis twitter feed late last night. The women of the Island deserve better than to be ogled and tweeted about in such a crude, crass and chauvinistic manner.
“Southern Vectis should withdraw the tweet, apologise to the Island’s women, identify the staff member who posted this completely unacceptable remark and take appropriate disciplinary action without delay.”
Image: StartBloggingOnline
