A 21-year-old man is continuing to be questioned by police in Britain in connection with a series of abusive tweets to a campaigner who fought to have the author Jane Austen on the 10 pound note.
Metropolitan Police arrested the man in Manchester yesterday "on suspicion of harassment offences."
Caroline Criado-Perez was bombarded with abusive messages, including one threatening rape, after successfully lobbying for the "Pride and Prejudice" author to replace Charles Darwin on the 10 pound note from 2017.
She said the abusive tweets began to appear on Wednesday, the day the Bank of England announced its decision.
Police said officers in Camden, London, received an allegation of "malicious communications" after Criado-Perez reported she had received "about 50 abusive tweets an hour for about 12 hours".
She added that she had "stumbled into a nest of men who coordinate attacks on women".
The opposition Labour Party accused Twitter of an "inadequate response" to the abuse and an online petition was set up calling for the web giant to introduce a "report abuse" button.
Campaigners on Wednesday hailed the BoE's decision as "a brilliant day for women and a fantastic one for people power" after 35,000 people signed an online petition to put a woman on the new note.
Austen is only the third female historical figure to win a place on a banknote since the policy was introduced in 1970.
Journalist Amy Guttman is in London and has been following this story:
