Ricky Gervais calls Shropshire mother to apologise over Twitter row

Comedian Ricky Gervais had a private telephone call with a Shropshire disabled rights campaigner following a Twitter row she had with him over his use of the word 'mong' on his page.

Nicky Clark, 45, from Shrewsbury, blasted The Office star after claiming the word was an abusive term often used to refer to people with Down's syndrome. The Hollywood star initially hit back at criticism.

He posted a definition from an internet dictionary stating that 'mong' did not refer to the condition.

Mrs Clark, who is the mother of two disabled daughters and led a battle to try and save the Grange Day Centre in Shrewsbury from closure, said the Twitter row had led to her receiving abuse on the social networking site from Gervais' fans.

She broke down during a chat with presenter Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 as she described how her daughters regularly had the word directed at them in public.

But Mrs Clark said the pair had now made their peace after his agent contacted her to see if the multi-award winning writer and comedian could call her in private to explain that he never intended to cause any offence to disabled people by using the word.

Mrs Clark said: "He phoned me and spoke to me for about an hour. He said he was concerned because it was not his intention to use the word to mock disabled people.

"I said to him it was fine and then he sent me a public message to thank me for speaking to him. I know he's a star and everything and he didn't have to phone me or talk to me or answer any of my questions but he did and that's a credit to him."

Gervais has apologised and admitted he was 'naive' over Twitter remarks that many people found offensive.

In a tweet to Mrs Clark, he says: "A very public thank you for your kind, rational and understanding words in private."

In a later 'Twinterview' he undertook with the disability rights campaigner he said he now understood why some people may find the word offensive.

He said: "Never dreamed that idiots still use that word aimed at people with Down's syndrome. Still find it hard to believe."