A FAMILY board game based on the popular TV sitcom Dad’s Army has been banned from sale on eBay because it could incite racial hatred.

The board game was described as ‘offensive material’ by the online auction website because it contains a picture of a Swastika.

The box of the 1970s game shows arrows emblazoned with swastikas – as seen in the opening titles of the hit TV show – alongside an arrow bearing the Union Jack.

Seller Dave Davidson, who bought the game at a car boot sale, said: “I want to expose eBay for what they are – a laughing stock.

“They allow coins and stamps with swastikas and there are hundreds of novels which are war stories that have them. It’s ridiculous that they can’t use any common sense. Dad’s Army is the most harmless TV programme in the world.

“There’s no swearing in it or anything.”

Mr Davidson, from Newtown, Droitwich, discovered his item had been removed from the site last Saturday when he received an e-mail from eBay.

It said his listing breached the company’s offensive material policy and added: “We don’t allow sellers on eBay to list items that promote violence, hatred, racial or religious intolerance, or items from organisations that promote these views.

“We don’t allow items or memorabilia associated with the Nazi Party.”

Jenny Thomas, spokesman for eBay UK, said: “eBay will remove listings that bear the marks of organisations that promote hatred and racial intolerance and we are strict and unapologetic in adhering to this policy.

“With 100 million listings globally we have to apply this rule to any item bearing such insignia, regardless of whether it is an innocent item like a board game.”

eBay’s stance was supported by Peter Oteng, chief executive of the Worcestershire Racial Equality Council.

He said: “You can’t joke with this because you are joking with millions of people killed.

“It’s not a laughing matter at all.

“It’s very serious.”

He added: “A swastika and the representation of it is Nazism and there is a sizeable group in this country who find this offensive full stop.”

Mr Oteng said there were strict laws about advertising discriminatory material and eBay – as the advertiser – was protecting itself.

However, he added a compromise could have been to advertise the boardgame without showing the swastika image.

There are currently a number of other items for sale on eBay, including a Dad’s Army video and an Escape from Colditz board game, that carry the swastika image.

Dad’s Army was a sitcom about the activities of the Home Guard during the Second World War.

The show featured the comic antics of a group of local volunteers, ineligible for military service, and was based in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea.

The show ran from 1968 to 1977 and proved so popular that it is still repeated on TV today.