Sick videos have been posted on local.nittys, which features people sleeping rough being attacked in various ways, including with fire extinguishers as they fall helpless to the ground.

The account, now private, has around 12,300 followers and is set in Birmingham in the UK but it’s not known who is behind it, The Sun reports.

In one shocking clip, yobbos appear to force a homeless man to drink urine, and in another people filming cruelly laugh as a thug covers a man in spray from a fire extinguisher.

One user commented on the clip saying: “U man are savage love it coming what a bunch of saps.”

But another said: “You need to show some respect for the homeless instead of standing there recording them doing stuff like this, at least buy him a drink or something, you horrible person.

“Remember what goes around comes around.”

It’s the latest in what appeared to be a trend of social media groups that tormenting the homeless, disabled and vulnerable in videos brazenly posted for profit.

A string of disturbing Facebook-owned Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers can make cash from posting adverts alongside the sick video clips, The Sun reports.

The social media accounts — usually set as private to avoid detection — trade on the cruel clips in which they often refer to the victims as “nitties” — Jamaican slang for someone who overuses drugs.

The latest research on attacks on rough sleepers found they were 17 times more likely to be victims of violence and 15 times more likely to have suffered verbal abuse than the general public.

The Sun reports they’ve found a string of Instagram accounts posting videos of vulnerable people being abused for profit or the entertainment of social media users.

Dr James Brown, from the Helping Homeless, said: “I am shocked and frankly stunned there are people in our community that think this is acceptable behaviour.

“Homeless people, and rough sleepers in particular, are vulnerable individuals who need safeguarding from this form of sick, attention seeking behaviour.

“I urge people not to engage with, or watch, this form of ‘entertainment’.

“The people behind it should be ashamed and the 12,000 followers of this account need to take a good look at themselves.”

Barrie Hodge, from St Basils charity, which tackles youth homelessness, said: “Naturally, we are so sad to see this.

“For people to take advantage of people who are in need in such a manner really shocks us.

“For the people who have viewed these videos, perhaps even found them funny we would ask them to put themselves in the position of those being mocked.

“How would you feel if someone treated you like that? If the shoe was on the other foot? We think you would change your opinion rather quickly.”

The videos were noticed by an unnamed YouTuber who monitors abusive Instagram accounts.

He said: “I started keeping tabs on the account and realised they posted pretty disgusting videos of abuse and then pulled them down later.

“I captured the videos and forwarded them to West Midlands Police.

“I also work on mass reporting to get the posts taken down by Instagram as all the videos violate their guidelines.

“So far Instagram has failed to remove any of these videos and the account grows on a daily basis, the more followers the more reason to go out and abuse more vulnerable people.”

Last year Instagram said it does not allow material showing violence or bullying towards other people and removed material highlighted by The Sun while closing down one of the accounts.

The Facebook-owned platform added that over the last year the firm has re-assigned staff to help foster a kinder community on the site.

Instagram and West Midlands Police have been contacted for further comment.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission