THE Empire's most notorious villain has been sneaking around Ipswich train stations taking selfies and posting them on Twitter.

It might seem like an odd hobby for a Sith lord, but this one has an ulterior motive for trying to capture the attention of Ipswich residents.

Darth Vader is collecting money for the Leukaemia Foundation and has started promoting his campaign for 2017.

The man behind the mask isn't prepared to show his face, or tell anyone his real name - he doesn't want his son to know who his real father is (jokes)…. and according to his own mother it's not a pretty picture.

"My very affectionate mother always said my face looked like it had been smashed into the back of a bus," Darth told the QT.

"Besides, I look better with the mask on anyway."

For more than ten years Darth has been fundraising for the Leukaemia Foundation and always tries to outperform his efforts from the year before.

This time he's combined his loves of trains with his love of the Empire to create a timely social media campaign that will hopefully save sick children's lives, while giving everyone else a laugh.

Once the 2017 campaign ends around March, Darth will disappear from Ipswich platforms and his 'darthies' will stop appearing on Twitter.

For now, he's taking each opportunity to snap a new pic at a different station whenever the chance comes along.

"I don't always know when my next railway adventure is likely to happen, and when I will next be able to sneak a selfie without any muggles there to see me," he said.

"Darth is easily spooked."

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Want to help?

Donate to the Leukaemia Foundation here in support of Darth's goal to reach $2000.