• Manchester City defender abused on social media site • Police believe the offender to be from the Lincolnshire area

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Police are investigating reports of racist abuse towards the Manchester City defender Micah Richards.

Angry fans contacted the police following a comment posted on the 23-year-old defender's Twitter page.

The Twitter user WillMadine94 tweeted: "You big fat n***** u r s***. Martin Kelly over u all day for england. Play for africa!!!" on the footballer's page.

Richards later replied: "Love the racist abuse. Keep it coming."

The matter is being investigated by Lincolnshire police, who believe the offender to be from the Lincolnshire area.

The force thanked fans for reporting the matter to them and said on their Twitter page: "Thank you to all those who helped earlier – we will not tolerate racist comments. Also a warning to all that deleting comments does not work."

Today the user's Twitter account was unavailable.

A spokesman for Manchester City said they were aware that police were investigating the matter and did not want to comment further on the incident at present.