The founder of 4Chan has announced his retirement from the internet's most notorious community.

Christopher Poole developed the controversial message board site, which allows people to post messages and photos anonymously, at the age of 15 in 2003.

It has since grown to consist of 63 boards which it claims have generated over 42 billion page views, more than 1.75 billion posts and over a billion visitors.

In a blog post Mr Poole, also known online as moot, said "after more than a decade of service, I've decided it's time for me to move on".

"4chan has faced numerous challenges over the years, including how to continuously satisfy a community of millions, and ensure the site has the human, technical, and financial resources to continue operating," he said.

"But the biggest hurdle it's had to overcome is myself.

"As 4chan's sole administrator, decision maker, and keeper of most of its institutional knowledge, I've come to represent an uncomfortably large single point of failure."

Mr Poole said he had spent the last two years bolstering the organisation's finances and infrastructure and was confident the site was not in danger of shutting in the near future.

"Team 4chan is also at its largest, and while I've still been calling the shots, I've delegated many of my responsibilities to a handful of trusted volunteers, most of whom have served the site for years," he said.

"I'll need time away to decompress and reflect, but I look forward to one day returning to 4chan as its Admin Emeritus or just another Anonymous."

4chan gained notoriety when the site's volunteers hacked Time Magazine's Most Influential Person of 2008 poll by making moot the winner and engineering votes to spell out a phrase representing 4Chan in-jokes.

Last year 4chan caused international outrage when explicit images purporting to feature high-profile female actresses, models and athletes were posted on the site.

Mr Poole said he would hold a final question-and-answer session with 4chan members on Friday.