A “nasty little” pervert is stalking women in Bradford to take so-called “creep shot” photographs – which he is then posting on the social networking site Twitter.

The images have sparked anger and disgust and led to police considering legal action against the man behind the photographs and the “detestable” site pages.

“Creep shots” are a recent internet phenomenon in which individuals closely follow women and take photographs without their knowledge – often using phones – of underwear beneath their skirts or of their groins and bottoms.

West Yorkshire Police are now investigating whether the actions are in contravention of the Public Order Act – and could be the subject of criminal charges – after the Telegraph & Argus passed on details of the activity.

The Twitter account was set up only four days ago but already the operator of the profile has posted many pictures he professes to have taken of women in Bradford, and also Leeds.

The user’s profile reads: “Love the female form and making sure others can enjoy! My own captures but will RT [retweet, i.e. circulate] good pics too! Hope you enjoy what the UK has to offer!”

The area of operation seems to be around the City Park and various Bradford landmarks can be seen in the background.

Each picture has comments added.

With one close-up of a woman with a short skirt the caption reads: “love the sexy student on the left”.

Another shot that appears to be taken in the large bus stop on Hall Ings states: “sexy tight leggings”.

Some of the unwitting victims are using cash points, relaxing at cafe tables or in Centenary Square, or merely walking through the city centre and are obviously taken at disturbingly close range.

The Telegraph & Argus has deliberately not given full details of the account to deter followers.

A spokesman for Bradford Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Survivors Service called the account “a nasty little detestable Twitter site as its name suggests.

“It uses women as sex objects without their consent”.

West Yorkshire Police are considering whether there are grounds to bring a prosecution under Section Five of the Public Order Act, which can be used if there is a case of causing “harrassment, alarm or distress” by way of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or perhaps under the rules governing disorderly behaviour.

A police spokesman said: “These people are acting in a disorderly manner likely to cause harrassment, alarm or distress.

“We would encourage anyone with any complaints about this to contact police on 101. Police will also review the site to establish whether any offence has been committed.”

The T&A has contacted the account through Twitter about the content it shows but there has been no response. We have also raised the issue with Twitter itself.

The social network’s rules state: “We remove profile photos, header photos, or background images that contain pornographic content.”

On the subject of potentially offensive content posted to the site, the Twitter rules say: “Users are allowed to post content, including potentially inflammatory content, as long as they’re not violating the Twitter Rules. It’s important to know that Twitter does not screen content or remove potentially offensive content.

“As a policy, we do not mediate content or intervene in disputes between users. However, targeted abuse or harassment may constitute a violation of the Twitter Rules and Terms of Service.”