Twitter has shut several user accounts after a group of hackers found that they were revealed to contain disturbing images of child abuse.

Hacking groups claimed to have broken into the private accounts to expose the content. Child protection group the NSPCC said it had received a 'flurry' of reports overnight relating to at least half a dozen Twitter accounts which were later disabled. The users will now be investigated in the US, where the micro-blogging site is based.

A spokesman said that Twitter was obliged by law to send details of any accounts containing indecent images of children to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US. The hackers apparently opened up a number of private accounts which were previously kept hidden from public view, the NSPCC said.