Twitter users have been warned by attorney general Dominic Grieve that they face legal action should they choose to breach privacy injunctions.

In recent weeks, Twitter users have continually ignored legal injunctions restricting the publication of specific details, including the alleged affair between Ryan Giggs and Imogen Thomas, which led to the footballer’s lawyers making moves to gain information on the identities of those breaching the gagging order.

In an interview on Radio 4, Grieve warned that he will take action himself in order to ensure that people obey the law, although it was not action he wished to take.

"I will take action if I think that my intervention is necessary in the public interest, to maintain the rule of law, proportionate and will achieve an end of upholding the rule of law. It is not something, however, I particularly want to do,” Grieve stated.

He added that newspapers who hinted at the identity of a person who was protected by an injunction could also be prosecuted.