THE organiser of a long-running Whitchurch comedy gig says he felt 'physically sick' after a comedian on his billing posted racist comments on social media following England's loss to Italy in the final of the European Championship.

Following the penalty shootout, in which Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed or had their penalties saved, comedian Andrew Lawrence made offensive comments on Twitter.

Lawrence was due to headline at the White Bear in Whitchurch this Saturday, but has now had his appearance cancelled, with Nick Page taking up the headline slot.

Donald Mackerel, of Kung Fu Pug Comedy, who organises and hosts the gigs, lamented the 'stupid' tweets.

"When the racist tweets regarding black members of our national football team were first reported on I was disgusted," said Donald.

"Our team excelled in the Euros and every English person should be proud of the success they managed this year.

"Wales are also on the up and Scotland matched England kick for kick in their match, so Britain has plenty of reasons to be proud of what we've all accomplished.

"On Monday morning, I awoke to a message from a comedy friend showing me what Andrew had tweeted and I felt physically sick."

Lawrence previously courted controversy in 2014 after engaging in disputes over Twitter with other UK comics, and said he was critical of the 'left-wing establishment' in comedy.

"I know he had some issues seven years ago and nearly lost his career, but I also know what a fantastic and mentally sharp comedian he is," added Donald.

"I believe in forgiveness and redemption and had wanted to get him on a lineup for years after he had proven that those demons were behind him, or so I thought.

"I now had him booked in for two venues and was horrified to see what I was about to align myself with.

"Both venues, The White Bear in Whitchurch and The Sweeney in Oswestry, were contacted and asked to remove all association with the act ASAP.

"The news then started to trickle into comedy publications and then mainstream media."

Lawrence has since been dropped by his agent and has deleted his Twitter account.

"Due to the bizarre Tweets he put out, he has lost his career," Donald added.

"I'm glad to announce that The White Bear have managed to upgrade to a star of Britain's Got Talent and English Comedian of the Year, Nick Page – and Oswestry have bagged Live at The Apollo star and also a former English Comedian of the Year Brennan Reece.

"Racism or any sort of backwards attitude to diversity in general will not be tolerated by either myself or my venues.

"The website will be updated as soon as we have posters available and tickets will be on kungfupugcomedy.com"