A newly-launched website invites Cambridge students to “Let us witness the fitness” by commenting on “fitties” they have spotted in their College or faculty libraries.

The brainchild of a University College London (UCL) undergraduate, Fitfinder provides students with a live feed, offering a chance to comment on people they have spotted. The website also allows students to search for any “fitties” in their vicinity with the “Find a fitty” tool.

Started as “a joke” among a group of UCL rugby players who would text each other if they spotted any eye-candy gracing the library, Fitfinder has now become a nation-wide sensation.

On its first day, the UCL site had 2,500 users and a further 1,000 the next. By the third day, over 20,000 unique users were posting their randy appraisals.

Since then, the creator, Computer Science student Rich Martell, has created similar sites for Cambridge and Oxford, as well as Nottingham, Warwick, LSE, and a dozen other universities.

Most posts are tongue-in-cheek at best. One ‘finder’ writes from Kings’: “Male, Brunette hair. Spotted on King's Parade. Tall, suited, herbily scented man walking like a Thunderbird. I'd love to play on your Tracy Island...”

Another writes: “Female, Other hair. Super hot Asian mathmo with a super Asian fringe. Let me be the tangent to your (super fine) curves.”

Martell, who is in his third-year, started to get requests from other universities after they spotted the UCL site. The demand has not yielded yet, he said. “Lots of people keep suggesting things – we have an idea for a “hot map” for example, where people can trace fitties on a Google-style map.” An app for the iPhone is also in the works.

Although the website has received national media attention, with recent profiles in The Guardian and Metro, Rich played down the attention he’s receiving. “I’m not expecting it to take off,” he said.

He added, “Anyway, I have a job lined up at a bank…for my sins.”

Oxford made national news in April when the drinking society of Hertford College, “The Penguins”, were suspended after a leaked email showed that members had compiled a “list of fitties” featuring derogatory remarks made about female freshers.

Asked if he was worried that Fitfinder was in danger of treading on similar territory, Rich was honest: “We ask people to take it with a pinch of salt.”

He stressed there is a house policy, and users have the ability to report immediately any posts they deem offensive. But following the national outrage at The Penguin’s allegedly-sexist list, eyes will be firmly placed on this growing sensation.

In the mean time, students are likely to keep finding fitties, or like one Engineer, miss the point entirely: “Male, Blonde hair. Ugly”.