Campaigners have targeted streets, schools and polling stations in the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency in an overnight attack, believed to have been orchestrated in the hours before polling stations opened at 7am yesterday.

The placards, which read ‘would you trust this man with your children’ have been branded ‘illegal and offensive’ by local Labour Party officials and the attacks have been reported to South Yorkshire Police, Barnsley and Sheffield Councils and the Electoral Commission as a criminal offence.

Nick Bradley, chairman of Penistone and Stocksbridge Constituency Labour Party, said hundreds of the placards had been spotted across the area t– and members were in the process of removing them.

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Hundreds of the posters have been plastered across Sheffield.

He said: “This has been a campaign full of appalling lies with people using social media in particular to peddle offensive content.

“Putting a poster of Jeremy Corbyn outside a school with the message 'would you trust this man with your children’ is as offensive as it gets.”

“It has been a very unpleasant political campaign and this just adds to that atmosphere.”

Flyposting is illegal and campaigners have reported the incidents, with police now patrolling the area.

The full text of the placards shows a picture of the Labour leader's face with the wording: “Would you trust this man with your children?

“He steals their inheritance, he dictates their education, he defends terrorists.

“Jeremy Corbyn is a threat to our safety and democracy. Don’t let this extremist win.”

Added Mr Bradley: “Some of the political campaigning has hit a very poor low in this election.

“Outright lies and misinformation have featured heavily.

“These posters though which do break the law in being flyposted are deeply offensive in their content

“There were posters attached to a railway bridge - to reach them required trespass on the railway land.”