West Ham striker Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 after he admitted breaching FA rules in relation to social media with an offensive tweet. Cole was involved in a Twitter spat with a Tottenham Hotspur fan after West Ham's 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw at White Hart Lane on February 22 and replied to an insult with a tweet saying 'F off you c***'. He later deleted the message. The 31-year-old, who has 122,000 followers on the social networking site, was responding to a message from Spurs supporter Stuart Hardy that read: 'Hi @CarltonCole1 when your own team-mates don't kick the ball out when you're lying injured for 2 mins, you think it's time to call it a day?' West Ham striker Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 for tweeting a fan saying 'F off you c***' last month . Cole tweeted back to a Tottenham fan who had insulted him on Twitter, telling the  supporter: 'F off you c***' Carlton Cole is far from the first footballer to have be censured over his behaviour on Twitter: . Darren Bent, 2009 - £120,000 fine . Bent was fined by his club Tottenham for a blast at chairman Daniel Levy. He tweeted: ‘Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go Stoke NO do I wanna go Sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy.’ Carlton Cole, 2011 - £20,000 fine . Cole tweeted during England's friendly with Ghana saying: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap!' Rio Ferdinand, 2012 - £45,000 fine . Ferdinand appeared to endorse a tweet by another user  which described  Ashley Cole as a 'choc ice', a term said to mean a person is black on the outside but white on the inside. Ashley Cole, 2012 - £90,000 fine . Cole was unimpressed with the FA's judgement in the John Terry racism case, tweeting: 'Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S' Michael Chopra, 2014 - £15,000 fine . Referring to life at crisis club Blackpool, Chopra posted: ‘F****** joke this come in training only 6 f****** players here then find out the fitness coach taken the football session #joke.’ Rio Ferdinand, 2014 - three match ban and £25,000 fine . QPR defender used the word 'sket' in reference to another Twitter user's mother this season. Cole, who has over 100,000 Twitter followers, was also 'severely warned' as to his future conduct by the FA. An FA statement said: 'Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 after he admitted breaching FA Rules in relation to social media.' 'The West Ham United player, who was also severely warned as to his future conduct, admitted posting a comment on his Twitter account which was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, in breach of FA Rule E3.' The former Chelsea striker has been in trouble before for previous postings on social media and that may be taken into account in his punishment. He was fined £20,000 by the FA in April 2011 for a tweet he posted during England's friendly against Ghana that read: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! 'The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St George's flag!' Cole, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury that forced him off during the game at Tottenham, will look at Rio Ferdinand as an example of how to avoid future misdeameanours. The QPR defender was handed a three-game ban earlier this season for a second FA charge over social media activities - with the former England captain not contesting the suspension despite labelling the severity of the decision as 'crazy'. Cole could have left West Ham in January's transfer window but a move to West Bromwich Albion fell through . The striker celebrates after scoring for West Ham against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in August .
Carlton Cole admitted breaching FA rules in relation to social media . The West Ham United forward has been fined £20,000 for his posts . Cole tweeted 'F off you c***' in response to a message from a fan . The tweet was posted after West Ham's 2-2 draw at Tottenham last month . Cole has also been 'severely warned' as to his future conduct .