Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman and Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who have faced a deluge of antisemitic abuse over Twitter after criticising Jew-hate in Labour, have hired Jewish lawyer Mark Lewis to help them take legal action against those who targeted them.

Together with Mr Lewis, who made his name representing phone-hacking victims, Ms Oberman and Ms Riley are seeking to identify up to 70 people who they claim either posted libellous claims about them or sent them abusive messages.

The lawyer intends to go to court to force Twitter to release details of the individuals who made the contentious posts if the social media company does not volunteer the information.

Mr Lewis told the Guardian: “This is a very early-stage legal procedure in order to identify the potential defendants. People need to realise that when they publish on Twitter they become a publisher. Whether it’s an initial publication or republication does not matter.”