Joe Hart falls victim to Twitter naked photo leaks

England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart is among several Premier League stars who have had naked photos of themselves leaked onto Twitter by a mystery internet user.

The former Shrewsbury Town stopper was secretly snapped in the dressing room at both home and away games, with the likes of Wales forward Craig Bellamy also targeted.

According to reports, the photographer, who claims to work for Chelsea and TV firm Endemol, taunted some of the victims of the stunt over Twitter.

"My perfect day was when I seen Joe Hart in the shower for the first time," said one post.

The Twitter user claims to have similar pictures of almost every Premier League player.

The photographer also contacted both Phil Neville and Michael Owen to tell them he had seen them in the nude.

Manchester City have called in lawyers to get the pictures removed from the internet and has launched an investigation into the incident.

Chelsea said it was impossible to know whether the photographer worked for the club, while Endemol said it had no information that the Twitter poster was one of its employees.

Police said they would investigate if any of the players involved made a complaint.

In 2008, a short clip of Hart dancing topless in a hotel room was shown on Soccer AM and it has gone on to attract more than 400,000 views on YouTube.

Hart began his professional career at Shrewsbury Town in the 2003/04, going on to become the club's first choice goalkeeper in 2005/06.

He was snapped up by Manchester City in 2006 and was sent out on loan to Tranmere at the start of January 2007.

Hart managed to become number one choice at Eastlands under Sven-Goran Eriksson's management but was displaced from the spot when Shay Given arrived at the club.

Following a season-long loan at Birmingham City, the Shropshire star went back to the north-west where he reclaimed the starting spot at Manchester City, as well as becoming England's first choice between the sticks.

His won his first cap for his country in June 2008 against Trinidad and Tobago.

By Chris Burn