West Ham co-chairman David Gold sorry for liking tweet calling Caroline Flack 'weak'

David Gold took over West Ham along with business partner David Sullivan in 2010

West Ham United co-chairman David Gold has apologised and promised to make a donation to a mental health charity after liking a social media post that described the late TV presenter Caroline Flack as "weak".

Flack, 40, was found dead in her north London home on Saturday.

Gold had liked a tweet that said something positive about the Premier League club, but also referenced the death of former Love Island presenter Flack.

He said it was "never his intention" to condone that part of the tweet and quickly removed the like.

In a statement released via the club, Gold said: "I apologise unreservedly for liking a tweet last night that I shouldn't have.

"It was never my intention to condone the sentiment expressed in the second half of it. I hastily pressed 'like' and very much regret doing so.

"I will be making a donation to Heads Together to recognise their important work."

Earlier this week a lawyer for Flack's family said the star had taken her own life.

As well as presenting ITV's Love Island, she had co-hosted The X Factor and won Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.

She stood down from Love Island after she was charged with assaulting her partner in December and was due to stand trial next month.

Her management company said she been "under huge pressure" since being accused of assaulting Lewis Burton, who did not support the ongoing case against Flack.

A petition on the online site 38 Degrees, dubbed "Caroline's Law", which calls for new laws around media regulation in the wake of the presenter's death, has attracted more than 110,000 signatures.

Flack's friend Laura Whitmore, who replaced her on Love Island, appealed to listeners on her BBC Radio 5 Live show to "be kind" to others, and added: "To paparazzi and tabloids looking for a cheap sell, to trolls hiding behind a keyboard - enough."