A firm of quantity surveyors has apologised to Lord Sugar after an employee tweeted a jibe about “gassing", alluding to the Holocaust.

Liam Callaghan, an assistant quantity surveyor with Bruceshaw LLP in London, tweeted Lord Sugar on May 8, saying: “I have trouble understanding why Spurs gas it at the end of the season tbh”

Lord Sugar had earlier tweeted about his difficulty in understanding the “scouse dialogue” in ITV drama Little Boy Blue, a TV programme about the murder of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones in 2007. Lord Sugar is a supporter and former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur.

Ian Hobb, a partner at Bruceshaw, said the tweet came to his attention and he then alerted Lord Sugar and apologised directly.

Mr Hobb said: “The individual responsible removed the offending tweet and apologised at the earliest possible moment publicly, and we apologised directly and personally to Lord Sugar. 

“Bruceshaw take such matters very seriously and it has prompted us to emphasise our social media policies to all our employees.”

The following day Mr Callaghan tweeted: “I apologise for any offence that a previous tweet may have caused and have removed it.”

Bruceshaw said Mr Callaghan had been “dealt with appropriately”. He is still employed by the firm.

I apologise for any offence that a previous tweet may have caused and have removed it.

— Liam Callaghan (@LiamTCal95) May 9, 2017

Andrew Bloch, a spokesman for Lord Sugar, said the Apprentice host was “grateful for the fact that the employer had dealt with the matter seriously”.