(Warning: this article contains offensive material that readers may find objectionable) A Twitter campaign to raise money for British Athletics has spectacularly backfired after it was attacked by trolls and offensive messages.

The campaign was done by the National Lottery and showed members of the British Athletics holding up cards that showed the names and contributions of members of the public who had donated money.

However, the campaign has been hijacked by people who changed their name to offensive messages, which were then shared on the official National Lottery Twitter account.

The vile abuse included messages about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the Hillsborough tragedy, Margaret Thatcher and Jimmy Saville.

Soon as the The National Lottery got wind of the attack it pulled the campaign and issued an apology: “We are aware that some people are maliciously targeting our British Athletics Twitter campaign with offensive and abhorrent content. We are dealing with this as quickly as possible and are hugely sorry for any offence caused by this malicious act.”