A Forest Hill bistro landed itself in hot water after it tweeted that victims of the so-called Croydon Cat Killer “taste great with a pinot grigio”.

The Twitter account of The Perryvale Bistro and Bar responded to a tweet from Protect Cats UK sharing a News Shopper story about a £10,000 reward for catching the Cat Killer.

In an ill-advised response, the restaurant's twitter account responded saying: “It’s just a cat… #pussybashing They taste great with a pinot grigio!!”

News Shopper:

The tweet was posted just past midnight last night, April 26, and gathered 142 responses in under 10 hours, most of them furious.

South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) wrote: “How disappointing to see you making a joke out of these animals' murders + their families distress. Appalled.”

The killer, also known as the M25-Animal Killer, is said to have killed roughly 220 animals, predominately in south London.

Commenters were vowing to “kill” the restaurant on review sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp.

Sue Kelly wrote: “Perryvale restaurant joking about a serial cat torturer/killer. Avoid this venue like the plague.”

Lora Nash-Legrys wrote: “Wow. I truly hope your customer levels suffer a hit as a result of this utterly tasteless comment.”

Others have observed that the owners must believe that all PR is good PR, comparing the company to United Airlines.

Claire Hedge wrote: “Not funny in the slightest. If this is the sort of attitude you guys have I hope your customers find somewhere else to eat.”

The owners of the restaurant woke up to this twitter storm and have insisted the tweet did not come from Perryvale or its staff.

In a series of tweets this morning, The Perryvale wrote: “This tweet in being investigated. I am an owner of the business and certainly do not condone this tweet. Apologies for offence caused.”

The tweet has since been deleted and The Perryvale has said they are in contact with the police.