James Arthur has vowed to leave Twitter "for good" following a public outcry as his use of the term "f***king queer" which he says was never meant "as a reference to homosexuality".

His tweets will now be written by "HQ", a reference to either his record company or management.

Shortly before he announced his decision he got involved in an online spat with comedian, Frankie Boyle.

The pair threw cutting insults at each other before 2012 X Factor winner Arthur finally decided to come off the social networking site altogether, writing:

"#LOVE to my fans but I'm coming off twitter for good. HQ will be doing all my tweets from now on. PEACE!"

One particularly barbed message posted by Boyle read: "Sorry, I beef with playas only. I'll leave you to the battle rap scene & getting hit so hard your teeth go normal."

Arthur retorted: "Haha how original with the teeth thing. Note to self: sort teeth! Must sort teeth!! Your an old washed up nerd with poor jokes."

Boyle also compared him to a "post-op Miley Cyrus" after Arthur joked, "If I was a girl I'd really want you."

"@JamesArthur23 Well you look like a post-op Miley Cyrus, so why not get it on? Oh, that's right, because of your rampant homophobia," Frankie blasted back.

Just before the singer vowed to leave the social networking site, he also posted this telling message: "Learnt a lot this year. Hurt a lot this year. F**ked up a lot this year. Loved a lot this year. Lost a lot this year. Roll on 2014. #LOVE

Yesterday (November 16)  Arthur has caused upset after making homophobic slurs in a shocking rap. He branded unknown rapper Micky Worthless (see photo below) a "f***ing queer" after he recorded a song mocking the X Factor winner for being a pop puppet.

Arthur rapped: "You f***ing queer. Hilarious, precarious you Talibani confused, imbellic mimic of a gimmick."

In the offensive track, Arthur also brags about "making paper" - slang for earning money - and seeing loads of "boobies".

He raps: "You're a terrible rapper, you should shoot yourself."

Arthur mixes Anita Ward's 'Ring My Bell' into a song called 'Stay In Your Lane, James'.

Arthur was then confronted by fellow former contestant Lucy Spraggan, and Little Britain star, Matt Lucas

The Little Britain star wrote: "F*** you @JamesArthur23 for using the phrase 'f***ing queer' in your latest track. F*** you."

Spraggen quoted the homophobic slur and added "Nice one." A follower then asked her if the tweet was about Arthur and she replied: "Yes, it is." Adding to another fan: "People kill themselves every day because there's insults like that around.

Paul Burston, the renowned editor of Time Out's LGBT section, and author tweeted: 

"Mr Arthur has been busy tweeting that he wasn't being homophobic. That word has a different meaning to him, apparently

"What exactly does "queer" mean in "the rap battle scene", James Arthur? I'm sure it's not a term of endearment. What a pathetic 'apology'"

Watch an X Factor compilation of James Arthur below: