Police hunt Russians who threatened Dragon Duncan Bannatyne's daughter on Twitter



Scottish millionaire responded by offering £50,000 reward to anyone who will 'break his arms'



Police are investigating after a sinister message appeared on Twitter threatening to harm Duncan Bannatyne's daughter.



The Dragon's Den star responded to the threats by offering £50,000 to anyone who could identify and break the arms of the culprits.



Last night, police issued a statement saying: 'Durham Constabulary can confirm Duncan Bannatyne has reported a number of threatening messages he had received via email and Twitter in which threats were made against a member of his family.



Reward: Duncan Bennatyne sent out this message to his 372,000 followers

'These appeared to originate from an email address based in Russia.

'We have been liaising since then with Mr Bannatyne and conducting enquiries into the credibility of these threats.'



Mr Bannatyne contacted the Durham Constabulary because his family have long been based in the North East.

The 62-year-old shocked his 372,000 Twitter followers by offering the reward.



The self-made millionaire became embroiled in the row yesterday afternoon after receiving a string of anonymous threats via the micro-blogging service.

The messages threatened to 'bring hurt and pain' to his family unless he handed over £35,000.

Threatened: Duncan Bannatyne received sinister messages threatening his daughter Hollie, right



And although Mr Bannatyne later withdrew his threat, the entrepreneur said 'I'd gladly do my time' to get revenge on the anonymous tweeter.



The TV star received a series of tweets from someone calling himself Yuri Vasilyev, linking to a message threatening to harm Hollie Bannatyne, 25.

He responded by posting: 'I offer £25,000 reward for the capture of the coward who calls himself @YuriVasilyev_ Double if his arms are broken first'.

Although this tweet was soon deleted, Mr Bannatyne posted another message saying: 'OK £30,000 reward for info leading to his arrest'.

The drama began yesterday, when he received a message from the Twitter account @YuriVasilyev_ which linked to a message about Holly.

Family man: Mr Bannatyne with his eldest children, Abigail and Hollie (right)

It read: 'Dear Dragon. My name is Yuri Vasilyev and I'm looking for a £35,000 investment to stop us hurting your Hollie Bannatyne. We will bring hurt and pain into your life.

'We are watching her. She is very attractive. Want photos? Tweet using the hashtag £4money to confirm payment will be made.'

A later message said: 'Duncan Bannatyne - Hollie is going to get hurt. We will bring pain and fear. You should have expected us. We are the men of Belarus.



'We do not give up. We will stand tall. You should have paid. £35,000 to stop it. Contact us to pay. We are watching. Expect us. We are the men of Belarus.'



Despite Vasilyev's claim to be from Belarus, Mr Bannatyne has said that he believes him to be in Moscow.



His latest message to Vasilyev reads: 'Go home to your mum and cry we are closing in on you little boy'. That message was also later deleted.



Mr Bannatyne's threats have met a mixed reaction from Twitter users.

Many have helped to try to locate Vasilyev, although this is unlikely to be successful without tracking him down electronically, as 'Yuri Vasilyev' is a common name in Russian-speaking countries.



But one user, speculating that Vasilyev was using a fake name, told Mr Bannatyne: 'Whoever the real Yuri Vasileyev is I hope hijacking his identity & ur call to vigilantes doesnt end in his injury or death.' [sic]

