Sexist comments row: British scientist Tim Hunt says he was forced to resign............

A Nobel Prize-winning British scientist says he was forced to resign after sexist comments drew widespread condemnation.

Tim Hunt told The Observer newspaper in a story published on Sunday that he had been "hung out to dry" after being forced out of an honorary post at University College London and losing his position with the European Research Council science committee.

The university and the research council didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The 72-year-old Hunt said he was never given a chance to explain his position. The trouble started when he told the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea that there was a "trouble with girls" who worked in laboratories, saying they cry when criticised.

Several prominent female colleagues have defended Hunt.