A stockbroker has been fired after a Twitter joke backfired.

The man, named as Rayhan Qadar, posted the tweet at 8.30am on Monday under the Twitter handle Ray Pew.

He wrote: "Think I just hit a cyclist. But I'm late for work so had to drive off lol."

Within hours of posting the tweet, he was sacked by Bristol investment company Hargreaves Lansdown.

Avon and Somerset Police said Mr Qadar had contacted the force to explain the tweet was a joke.

A spokesman said: "We are now looking into it to see if a crime has been committed."

The former Cardiff University student has since apologised for a "bad taste joke" and restricted access to his Twitter account to his followers only.

A spokesman for Hargreaves Lansdown said: "One of our employees has failed to conduct themselves to the standards we expect of our staff.

"We find these online comments totally unacceptable. Upon becoming aware of this issue we have terminated this person's employment with immediate effect."

In 2013, Emma Way, from Watton, Norfolk, was convicted of failing to stop after a collision and failing to report an accident after she tweeted about a collision with a cyclist.

She tweeted: "Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier. I have right of way - he doesn't even pay road tax!"

Cyclist Toby Hockley suffered bruising and minor damage to his bike in the incident in Rockland All Saints, Norfolk.