More than 50,000 people have signed a petition demanding that Piers Morgan be axed as host of Good Morning Britain.

The pugnacious presenter has conducted a number of fiery interviews with government officials over the last few months, criticising them of their handling of the coronavirus crisis, which has claimed more than 34,000 lives in the UK to date.

The interviews have led to thousands of people complaining to TV regulator Ofcom, with some accusing him of bullying, in addition to the government apparently deciding to ban its ministers from appearing on the ITV breakfast show.

A petition on change.org has called on ITV to "remove" Morgan as host of GMB, describing him as one of the UK's "most heinous public figures" and alleging that he distributes "misinformation".

Responding to sports journalist Paul Smith's tweet declaring that he is "absolutely thrilled" by the petition, Morgan wrote: "How weird to see a journalist wanting another journalist sacked for challenging the Govt over its ineptitude. For the record, Paul, this is an old petition & I have since signed a new 2yr contract with ITV."

Last week Morgan became involved in a spat with Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, who alleged that the host would be sacked by Christmas.