Corrie star quits Twitter over racist abuse

Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati has revealed she was forced to quit Twitter after receiving a string of racially abusive messages on the site.

The 45-year-old, who plays Sunita Alahan in the ITV soap, decided to leave the social networking site after becoming the victim of internet trolls.

One message read: ‘You’re not British, you’re foreign.’

Another wrote: ‘You have got to be the ugliest f***** I’ve ever seen.’

Some users even mutilated photos of the actress, while one told Shobna they would ‘always be here to bother (her)’.

Speaking about her decision to quit rather than endure further abuse, she told The Sun: ‘Being racially abused on Twitter really shook me up. It felt like going back in time to the 1970s.

‘It put me in mind of a psycho — like a horror movie. I just decided enough was enough.

‘I tried to ignore it but it started to affect my confidence.

‘Violent, vitriolic hatred gives people their moment in the spotlight. It beggars belief.’

Shobna is just the latest celebrity to open up about receiving abuse online, with Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright recently revealing they had been victims of the trolling phenomenon.

In February comedian Matt Lucas quit Twitter after a user made a joke about the suicide of his ex-partner, resulting in his management team taking over his account.