Stan Collymore has been the subject of abuse on Twitter following comments suggesting that the former Liverpool player should take his own life "like Gary Speed".

The radio commentator, who has been open about his battle with depression, suffered shocking messages from users of the social networking site, with some referring to his ethnicity in an offensive manner.

One tweet read: "@StanCollymore do us a favour Stan and go and hang yourself like Gary Speed did please. Ok Negrito."

Collymore later posted: "The lovely comments outstrip the bad 100/1 so thank you to those who do. Not ignoring you, just highlighting a serious issue.

"Have a look at my favourites. Tell me Twitter shouldn't do something."

Newcastle United right-back Danny Simpson commented on the offensive messages, claiming that legal action should be taken.

"Surely the police can take action against some people on twitter regardin what they tweet," Simpson posted.

The issue of racism has currently been rife in football, with two high-profile cases involving Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Chelsea captain John Terry.