Man arrested over racist tweets to West Ham's Cole

West Ham United's Carlton Cole celebrates scoring during their FA Cup soccer match against Burnley at Upton Park in London February 21, 2011.

LONDON (Reuters) - A man has been arrested in connection with racist Twitter messages sent to West Ham United footballer Carlton Cole, Essex Police confirmed on Sunday.

The 22-year-old man from Southend, Essex, wrote two posts on Saturday following West Ham's 3-0 Premier League defeat at Swansea City.

The tweets questioned Cole's performance and used a racist term to describe him. The 28-year-old forward retweeted the comments from his @CarltonCole1 account.

Essex Police said on their own Twitter account: "Police have arrested a 22 year old from Southend following tweets to @carltoncole1. Investigation ongoing."

An Essex police spokeswoman told Reuters: "The man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence following tweets sent to Carlton Cole."

(Reporting by Tim Hart, Editing by Mike Collett)