Jane Austen's 10-pound note campaigner receives rape threats on Twitter

A woman who campaigned for Jane Austen to become the new face of the 10 pound note has been bombarded with hundreds of threats and comments on Twitter.

Caroline Criado-Perez was also subjected to vile rape threats and other comments for more than 12 hours after her successful campaign to have a woman on a British bank note, the Mirror reported.

Friends, followers and thousands of other users of the site demanded the company take action, after the abuse.

An online petition, which was also launched calling on the social network giant to add an abuse button for people subjected to threats, had 15,000 signatures by Saturday evening.

The signatures included that of Labour MP Stella Creasy who condemned the attacks on Criado-Perez.

Supporters threatened a boycott of Twitter if bosses at the online company did not act.