The violent abuse received by female campaigners behind a campaign to have Jane Austen on the new £10 banknote was "shocking", Bank of England governor Mark Carney said.
"It was shocking. It should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I personally have nothing but admiration for Stella Creasy, for Caroline [Criado-Perez], for Mary [Beard] and the other individuals who really brought this issue to the fore, so that we could be as responsive as possible," he told Channel 4.
"By the way I’ll say one other thing on Jane Austen, it’s important that we get across to people across the country as much as possible what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
"We’re doing it in a transparent way, and if we make a mistake that people understand that we recognise that."
Carney's comments come after a man was arrested on Wednesday in connection with abuse directed at Labour MP Stella Creasy and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez on Twitter.
The 32-year old man will be questioned at a local police station on suspicion of committing an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act.
Criado-Perez previously told HuffPost UK: "For me, the really shocking thing is how this has happened over such a tiny, tiny thing. We asked for there to be a woman on a bank note, how does asking that even annoy someone? Annoy someone so much they send a barrage of rape threats? It's kind of gobsmacking."