text: 'Toxic': Celebrity Big Brother contestant Katie Hopkins said migrant vessels 'need pushing back' Katie Hopkins was today branded 'toxic' after saying boats in North Africa should be 'burned' to cut immigration - just hours after up to 900 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. The 40-year-old former Celebrity Big Brother contestant said the vessels ‘need pushing back’ and asked listeners to a radio show: ‘Why do we take on everyone else's problem?’ Miss Hopkins said on LBC yesterday: 'I, for one, believe we should turn back the boats. Personally I would use gunships, I would tow them back to where they came from, and I would make a huge bonfire of all the boats they have - in order that we put a stop to this ridiculous situation that we find ourselves in.' Her comments were labelled 'dangerous', while she was described as a 'manifestation of the culture of toxic hate that is prevalent in the UK'. More than 900 people are feared dead after the fishing boat overturned in the Mediterranean at midnight yesterday in one of the worst maritime disasters since the Second World War ended. And the former Apprentice contestant insisted a 'huge bonfire' should be made from boats in North Africa so they cannot be used again. She added: ‘If you allow these boats to come that number will grow year on year. When we see these migrants arriving in Italy, they aren't just staying in Italy. ‘The Italians are more or less okay with these numbers coming, because as soon as they are in Italy they disperse through Europe and then we see them arriving in vast swathes in Calais. The mother-of-three, who was hosting her first radio talk show on the station at 10am, continued: ‘I do believe these boats need pushing back. We pay an enormous amount towards foreign aid as it is, and I don't think we need to be helping with a rescue programme in the Med as well.’ Today, an Italian coast guard ship brought the bodies of 24 victims to Malta for burial before heading to Sicily with just 28 survivors plucked from the sea after the disaster off Libya. Help: This image from Guardia di Finanza shows an infra-red camera screen shot during an operation to rescue migrants after their shipwreck in Strait of Sicily yesterday. Hundreds were feared drowned today . Coming to the rescue: German shipping company Opielok Offshore Carriers released this picture today showing a boat with refugees close to its cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea on April 12 . Following the tragedy, politicians and charities attacked EU states for supporting Italy's decision to stop search and rescue missions last year which they blame for such a high number of deaths. But Miss Hopkins - speaking about 90 minutes after news of the disaster first emerged yesterday - said: ‘Why do we take on everyone else's problem? 'I think at the moment we don't really address immigration as a country. Our politicians are frightened to go near the issue. ‘I'm actually not that frightened at all, nor am I inclined to tow the PC line. I actually really believe that we can't afford to take on the problems of the world.’ However, Miss Hopkins received a furious backlash from listeners, and had a stormy exchange with one called ‘Ronkey’ from Greenwich, south-east London - who branded her comments ‘dangerous’. Meanwhile on Twitter - where Miss Hopkins has more than 500,000 followers - a user named 'Anne Cupcake' wrote to LBC: ‘You are using a tragedy to fuel publicity for a vile racist. Shame on you.’ Anger: Miss Hopkins received a backlash from listeners and people on Twitter - being labelled a 'vile racist' Criticism: Another Twitter user said Miss Hopkins should be 'very happy' after news of the huge death toll . And Neil Hainsworth told Miss Hopkins in a tweet: 'You should be very happy today with news of hundreds of migrants drowning. Corpses and coffins just for you.' Meanwhile Tariq Yusuf said: 'People like Jeremy Clarkson and Katie Hopkins are manifestations of the culture of toxic hate that is prevalent in the UK. It's hate.' And biomedical scientist Dilwyn Havard added: 'I'm going to report The Apprentice to the Environment Agency. I'm pretty sure Katie Hopkins could be classed as a toxic byproduct.' Last Friday Miss Hopkins wrote  of Australia's 'tiny hearts and balls of steel' being the perfect way to deal dealing with asylum seeker boats - and a policy that could be copied by Britain. She praised Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government for its success in stopping the boats, and claimed Australia's strategy of 'threatening them with violence' was the way forward. Miss Hopkins also stated in The Sun that areas of the UK had now become 'festering sores, plagued by swarms of migrants and asylum seekers, shelling out benefits like Monopoly money'. Mother of three: Miss Hopkins is pictured with her three children Poppy (left), Max (centre) and India (right) Route: How a journey for hundreds of migrants began in Egypt and ended at the bottom of the Mediterranean . Miss Hopkins is known for her outspoken remarks in print, TV and radio, which recently included the claim that dementia patients are 'bed blockers'. One survivor from the weekend’s shocking incident who has already been brought to the Sicilian city of Catania has told prosecutors that there were 950 people on board the ship when it sank. The EU president is calling on the EU's executive arm to urgently propose new measures to beef up Europe's border agency to respond to the migrant emergency in the Mediterranean. Rescuers are still combing the waters of the Mediterranean where the migrants are thought to have drowned. EU foreign and interior ministers are to hold emergency talks in Luxembourg later today. The tragedy came just days after another shipwreck in the area claimed 400 lives. Save The Children said more than 1,000 people have died in the  Mediterranean Sea in recent weeks.
target: Celebrity Big Brother contestant, 40, says vessels 'need pushing back'
  She asks radio listeners: 'Why do we take on everyone else's problem?'
  Hundreds dead after boat overturned off Libya at midnight yesterday .
  Miss Hopkins called 'vile racist' and 'manifestation of toxic hate culture'