WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols receives the highest proportion of online abuse of any MP in the North West.

New data released by the BBC Shared Data Unit highlights the scale of abuse faced online by MPs across all political parties.

Ms Nichols is the MP with the fifth-highest proportion of online abuse in the entire country.

Warrington Guardian: Ms Nichols was found to have received the highest proportion of online abuse of MPs in the regionMs Nichols was found to have received the highest proportion of online abuse of MPs in the region (Image: Newsquest)

The research conducted analysed nearly three million tweets that mentioned MPs by name, or by tagging their profile, in a six-week period between March and April this year.

During that time, Ms Nichols was mentioned on Twitter more than 11,000 times - almost 8.5 per cent of those tweets were flagged as having 'toxic' content.

This equates to Ms Nichols receiving nearly 25 'toxic' online messages every single day during those six weeks.

Over the period of six weeks, Ms Nichols was the target of almost 1,000 'toxic' tweets on the social media platform.

During the same period, Warrington South MP Andy Carter was mentioned fewer than 400 times, and just two of those mentions were flagged as 'toxic.'

This means that around 0.5 per cent of all tweets mentioning Mr Carter were 'toxic' - Ms Nichols received almost 500 times the amount of online abuse at the same time.

Nationwide, the study found that Labour MPs receive less online abuse than Conservatives, with almost half of tweets directed at politicians being related to members of the cabinet or shadow cabinet.

Responding to the news that she is the MP with the highest proportion of online abuse in the North West, Ms Nichols said: "I'd like to say I'm surprised, but frankly, I'm not.

"That's not to say it's not upsetting, and that I'm not growing increasingly concerned about my safety given some incidents that have spilt over into 'real life' violence by people that have been whipped up online into hating me and don't see me as human anymore.

"Suffice it to say I didn't have PTSD [post-traumatic stress syndrome] when I was elected and that is the reason I now have to live with it."

Both of Warrington's MPs were supportive of the 'Debate not Hate' campaign which was launched earlier this year, and it aims to promote political discussions rather than confrontations.

Responding to the new statistics, Mr Carter said: "I spend less and less time on Twitter, it’s an unpleasant environment where individuals hide their identity and make comments which they wouldn’t dream of saying in the real world. 

"I’m more focused on engaging directly with constituents either through face-to-face meetings or on the doorstep. Disagreement in politics is perfectly acceptable, but abuse is simply not.

“No matter our political affiliation, the vast majority of elected representatives share the same goal – to better the lives of those we represent. Political parties and those engaged in politics all need to consider their behaviour on social media.

The Conservative MP added: "At the same time, social media platforms have a role to play in policing the platforms, taking action more quickly and removing those accounts that publish comments which are toxic and inflammatory.”