The woman behind a three-million strong petition to revoke Article 50 reportedly made a Facebook comment in which she threatened to shoot the Prime Minister.

Former college lecturer Margaret Anne Georgiadou made a viral petition backed by a host of celebrities, MPs and members of the public who want a second referendum.

In Facebook posts unearthed by blogger Guido Fawkes, she reportedly wrote online: 'If i got hold of her 'gun' I'd shoot her [Theresa May] point blank in the name of patriotism'.

Ms Georgiadou spoke on LBC radio this afternoon, saying how she fed the petition by approaching 'notable' celebrities on Twitter for endorsements.

Ms Georgiadou appeared on LBC radio this afternoon - pictured is LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty during their conversation - where she complained that the 2016 referendum was 'not very democratic'

In Facebook posts unearthed by blogger Guido Fawkes , she reportedly wrote online: 'If i got hold of her 'gun' I'd shoot her [Theresa May] point blank in the name of patriotism'

Her online messages were discovered by the Guido Fawkes website

The petition has also been backed by physicist Brian Cox, actress Jennifer Saunders, singer Annie Lennox, actors Eddie Marsan and Andy Serkis and author AC Grayling.

She told an LBC radio show this afternoon: 'The government ignored us, they didn't have any discussion with Remainers.

'With a referendum, this is what happens because it's not very democratic, it's majoritarian, the majority wins, it's ruled by the majority for the majority - sod the minority.

'Whereas true democracy includes everybody's opinion in society.'

With the highest sign-up rate on record, more than two million people had pledged their support by the time Mrs May fielded questions in Brussels last night.

The public petition to cancel Brexit on the Parliament website has soared past three million signatures, with the highest sign-up rate on record

Ms Georgiadou also criticised Labour's Jeremy Corbyn in January, according to Guido Fawkes

Absolutely Fabulous star Jennifer Saunders and Andy Serkis, who was behind Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films, have also backed the petition

Celebrities including Hugh Grant, Annie Lennox and Brian Cox have all backed the petition

How this petition is NOT the biggest ever on Parliament website The latest petition is not the most popular one ever on the Parliament website. A petition for a second EU referendum in June 2016 attracted more than four million signatures and was debated in the Commons - but thousands of signatures were removed after it was discovered to have been hijacked by automated bots. Another popular petition aimed to prevent US President Donald Trump from making a state visit, and attracted 1.8million signatures. Advertisement

The petition on the Parliament website quickly gained support in the wake of the PM's speech on Wednesday night and Revoke Article 50 started to trend on Twitter.

After signing the petition, Hugh Grant shared a link online and wrote: 'I've signed. And it looks like every sane person in the country is signing too. National emergency. Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU.'

Professor Cox said: 'I've signed this petition to revoke A50 and deal with the consequences afterwards - referendum, election, whatever.

'I have no idea whether these things do any good but after May's astonishingly irresponsible speech this evening I'll give anything a go.'

Prime Minister Theresa May gives a statement about Brexit at a summit in Brussels yesterday

Support for the petition concentrated in London and constituencies around Cambridge, Brighton, Bristol, Oxford and Edinburgh - six cities that were in favour of Remain in 2016

This graph shows how signatures to the Article 50 petition have soared over the past week

The petition's support was concentrated in London and constituencies around Cambridge, Brighton, Bristol, Oxford and Edinburgh.

In the 2016 referendum, these six cities were also in favour of Remain.

The petition reads: 'The Government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is 'the will of the people'.

'We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now, for remaining in the EU.'

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom dismissed the petition, pointing out it was not on the same scale as the referendum.

'Should it reach 17.4million, I am sure there will be a very clear case for taking action,' she said.

During her Downing Street statement, Mrs May controversially blamed MPs for failing to stick to the result of the 2016 vote and told the public: 'I am on your side.'

The Petitions Committee said nearly 2,000 signatures were being completed every minute over yesterday lunchtime, crashing the website because of the unprecedented hit-rate.

It quickly passed the 100,000-signature threshold needed for it to be debated in Parliament.

Anyone can fill it in, prompting fears that bots or foreign agents seeking to interfere could have contributed to the total number of backers.

But people signing petitions on the Parliament website were asked to tick a box saying they are a British citizen or UK resident and to confirm their name, email address, and postcode to sign.

Data from the petitions website yesterday afternoon suggested more than 960,000 signatures were from people who said they were from the UK, nearly 9,000 from France, nearly 5,000 from Spain and nearly 4,000 from Germany, among others.

Yesterday, EU leaders said Brexit could be delayed from March 29 to May 22 - but only on the condition that MPs vote for Mrs May's deal next week.

If it is rejected in the third 'meaningful vote' then the UK would have until April 12 to tell the European Council a way forward.

An extension could continue for several more months if Britain agreed to vote in May's European Parliament elections.

In January MPs debated whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal after a petition calling for it got 371,673 signatures.

MPs have been sharing the petition to revoke Article 50 on social media, including Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake.

Pro-Brexit Tory MP Nadine Dorries suggested it was 'likely' that foreign governments or bots had intervened in the petition to revoke Article 50.

'I don't think you can trust the authenticity of any petition or social media response any longer as the issues regarding bots and rouge internet sabotage is now an everyday occurrence,' she said.

But the Commons spokesman added that signature patterns are investigated to check for fraudulent activity and suspect signatures are removed, including those that are 'clearly bots'.

He said: 'Anyone who is a UK resident or a British citizen can sign a petition. This includes British citizens living overseas.'

In December last year the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union and cancel the Brexit process.