A father, Adam Tidbury, was left horrified after discovering what appeared to be a Nazi symbol printed on his six-year-old son Vince’s Primark underpants. The incident came to light when Tidbury’s wife, Jemma, 30, was doing the laundry and noticed a monster pattern on one pair of the elasticated briefs that strongly resembled a swastika.

Adam, 33, from Reading, recounted his shock, stating, “My wife was doing the laundry and she was like, ‘come here a minute - what does this look like to you?’ I said ‘oh my god, it looks like a Nazi symbol’ - so we checked the rest of the pants and it was part of the pattern.” The dad-of-one expressed his dismay at his son unknowingly wearing such a problematic design, commenting, “It’s not ideal. Our son’s six and he’s been running around with Nazi underwear on for god knows how long.”

While Tidbury believes the design was likely unintentional, he stressed the importance of rigorous checks for potentially offensive or problematic symbols before products are released for sale. He confirmed that only one pair from the £4.80 10-pack, which is still available for purchase, featured the suspicious symbol. This incident echoes a previous controversy where sports brand Adidas had to ban customers from purchasing German football kits with the number 44, as its font was found to resemble the Nazi-era SS rune, a symbol associated with a paramilitary force responsible for the genocide of millions during the Holocaust.