Kanye West's expletive-filled set at Glastonbury caused a storm on Twitter

Kanye West created a storm on social media last night after giving an expletive-filled Glastonbury performance which eventually proved too much for the BBC's subtitle department.

The US rapper put on a rollercoaster headline show of highs and lows which saw a prankster invade the stage and the hip-hop star elevated on a crane above the huge crowds.

But it was his incessant swearing which generated the main talking point - not least because of the amusing gaffe seen by those watching the show with subtitles.

The BBC began by attempting to change various parts of the hip-hop star's bad language but decided to throw in the towel shortly after one of the words appeared as 'motherducker'.

For the rest of his set the subtitle department chose to caption the performance simply as 'He raps'.

West's constant swearing led many people to take to Twitter to criticise the polarising star.

One user, John Colley, wrote: 'This is absolutely pathetic by Kanye West. I thought Glastonbury was meant to be a music festival, not a swearing contest.'The BBC had been keen to avoid a repeat of ITV's Brits disaster, which saw the channel mute much of the audio of his performance of All Day because of repeated mentions of the 'n' word.

News that the abrasive singer had been given the headline slot had received a mixed reaction from fans, some of whom felt strongly that it was too much of a departure from the traditional Glastonbury roots, while co-organiser Emily Eavis received online abuse over the move.

There was even a 134,000-strong petition from angry Glastonbury fans to have his headline act cancelled.

After a dramatic opening appearing crouched under a low-level panel of lights, the multi-award-winning Grammy star was left thrown when comedian Lee Nelson ran on stage holding a microphone just minutes into the set.

It was a taste of his own medicine for West after the rapper famously interrupted Taylor Swift and Beck during awards acceptance speeches.

Meanwhile, towards the end of his set the hip-hop star had the crowds fooled when he appeared to have ended the gig early, only for him to be revealed minutes later high above them on a platform.

He also gushed over his wife Kim Kardashian, who was supporting him backstage, telling the campers she ' brought this poetry out of me'.

The couple, who are expecting their second child, arrived in Somerset by helicopter.

West also made clear what he thought of recent controversy over his unlikely billing, telling the audience: 'You are now watching the greatest living rock star on the planet.'

He was the second headline act of the weekend, with Florence + The Machine entertaining crowds on Friday and The Who getting ready to close the festival on the world-famous Pyramid stage tonight.