A Twitter account pretending to be Worcester's MP has been set up after the site allows people to pay for the verification blue tick.

The parody account pretending to be city MP Robin Walker has paid £6.99 per month for the verification - leading fears it will cause confusion.

The actual Mr Walker (@WalkerWorcester) says he has reported the account but is concerned about the direction Twitter is heading in.

The new profile @Robin4Worcs described itself as a “parody account” in its bio but otherwise appears to be the city's MP.

Blue ticks used to let users know someone was a genuine celebrity, politician, or other authority but Twitter Blue launched in the UK on Thursday, allowing users to pay for verification.

He said: “People can do parody or comedic accounts but this isn’t humorous, they are trying to tweet things for people to attack, which is a misuse of social media.

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“I think what is problematic is allowing people to buy ticks. Twitter has allowed both mine and this account to be verified.

“I have reported it but their rules say that parody accounts are allowed and you can only report it otherwise if you have protected characteristics. So if I was gay, or trans or an ethnic minority I could but as a man, I cannot.

“Twitter is in a muddle. Having gotten rid of so many people they have managed to remove those who stopped things like this from happening.”

Mr Walker added that he does not yet know who is responsible for the account but has urged them to stop.

“The people behind this account need to think about what they are doing,” he said.

“I understand that politicians need to be held to account and are often the butt of the jokes but I don’t think it is sensible to impersonate them.

“If it is someone in local politics they ought to know better.

“I notice amongst its few followers are a number of local Labour politicians.”

The parody account first tweeted in 2019.

Paid verification was one of the first major changes introduced by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, who purchased the social media platform for $44 billion.

Since launching on Thursday, countless scam and fake accounts have sprung up.

Other examples include an account pretending to be former US president George W Bush, which tweeted: “I miss killing Iraqis [sad face emoji].”

The tweet, which is still live and still has the blue tick next to its account, was shared by another fake account pretending to be former prime minister Blair. It wrote: “Same tbh [to be honest].”

READ MORE: Twitter chaos as blue-tick 'Tony Blair' account says he 'misses killing Iraqis'

The chaos, which is showing little sign of slowing down, is reportedly leading to an exodus of advertisers. Musk has aimed to calm their nerves as advertising is Twitter’s largest revenue stream.