By Doug Bolton

THE person behind a Twitter account called Co. Durham Sexy Pics last night deleted it after being contacted by The Northern Echo.

It published a number of sexually explicit and intimate photographs to an audience of thousands on the social media site - including some of a Bishop Auckland woman who said they were used without permission.

The person behind the account - using the name 'Jess Jarrow' - claimed to be a "keen local amateur photographer" and insisted 90 per cent of the content were pictures taken by him of amateur models, or photos submitted willingly by the women concerned.

He said he saw "no issue" in using the other ten per cent, claiming the pictures had been taken from social networks and websites.

In one vile post, four pictures of a woman in her underwear appeared with the caption “Aycliffe slut. Anyone know her name?”.

In another, the author wrote: “If I have pics of a girl topless on her wedding day in her wedding underwear is it wrong to put them on here? Honest thoughts please”.

However, one woman from Bishop Auckland messaged the account saying: “Can you remove my photos. I’ve not give permission for them to be used! Absolute joke.”

The practice of posting explicit pictures online without the subject’s consent is often called ‘revenge porn’, and people posting them are usually scorned ex-partners.

Prosecutions are extremely rare and police are often powerless to help, as there is currently no specific law against it.

Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg branded it “absolutely despicable”, and welcomed the new Criminal Justice and Courts Bill that will explicitly make revenge porn illegal.

He said: “There are existing laws in place but they’re not being used greatly.”

“The new law should encapsulate the whole thing from existing pieces of legislation and make it easier to prosecute people.”

A spokeswoman for Durham Constabulary said they had no dedicated team working on this issue, but Mr Hogg pledged his support to victims.

He said: “As far as I’m concerned if an individual finds a picture of themselves has been posted on the site then they should report it to the police and we’ll do everything we can to help.”

‘Jess Jarrow’ insisted that submitted pictures of peoples’ former partners were never published, but said: “I realise however that some people may be offended by it so it is my intention to remove the page.”

“The site was never created for the purpose of offending people.”