Threats of violence and rape made by students on a gossip website have left college staff in fear of their safety.

Police were called in to investigate after Kingston College students posted the offensive comments on littlegossip.com. Under the Communications Act 2003 it is an offence to send a message that would cause gross offence to the people it relates to.

The students could now face disciplinary action from the college, which is so concerned it has written to Business Secretary Vince Cable to have the site, owned by foreign company Platinum Century Ltd, blocked.

Principal Peter Mayhew-Smith said some of the malicious comments were “frankly disgusting”.

He said: “We are dealing with staff being threatened by students. It’s pernicious. One student said they wanted to rape their teacher.

“There are vulnerable students in the mix – the sheer intimidation and utter nastiness that’s there.

“The colleagues concerned are very shocked and concerned about their welfare. We don’t know who it is.”

The comments were deleted by littlegossip.com after college lawyers complained.

A spokesman said the site’s terms of service did not allow damaging gossip and it provided information about particular users if ordered to by a court.

However, the matter is being regarded so seriously Mr Mayhew-Smith has joined with other principals and vice-chancellors to pressure Mr Cable to act.

Obscene rumours about fellow Kingston College students’ sex lives have also been posted on the website, which is based in Belize.

Kingston police said officers would talk to students and staff about cyber-bullying and the potential criminal and ethical issues.

Platinum Century Ltd’s littlegossip.com website has attracted national scorn after it was revealed to encourage schoolchildren and students across the UK to write anonymous gossip about their peers.

Users are invited to vote on whether each comment is true or false, and are told they can “make up their own”

gossip.

Emma-Jane Cross, CEO of Beatbullying, said the site should be taken offline as a matter of urgency.

She said: “Teachers feeling vulnerable in their place of work, especially when they are there to educate young people, is totally unacceptable and once again the site in question has brought the prevalence of cyber-bullying in our society to the forefront.

“To take down specific extreme comments is not enough as the site is still left to be abused, leaving further teachers and students victimised.

“Legislation and vital action urgently needs to be taken as there is no social benefit from a site that has a sole purpose of spreading malicious rumours and threatening the welfare of innocent people.”

Peter Yiannakou, branch secretary of the University and College Union, said he was strongly against the website.

He said: “We have a society where there is no guarantee of safety in any job, but we are dealing with a lot of people and you don’t know each and every student or their background. This might just be immature humour or could be even more serious. We don’t know.”

The website states pieces of gossip can be removed if someone puts a positive, light-hearted or funny post in its place, but said it responds to reports of violent threats.

It tells users they must be over 18 and had removed schools from the site, but Kingston College, which has about 3,000 students aged 14-18, is still listed.

A littlegossip.com spokesman said 10-15 per cent of posts were removed from the site, and it provided information about particular users if ordered to by a court.

He said: “Offensive comments could be posted on every other social media tool or network. It’s a matter of dealing with offensive material.

“On littlegossip.com, every piece of the gossip on the site can be reported and removed quickly.”

Kingston College said it was conducting an internal investigation into the matter and would draw on police resources “should they be required”.