A pub has been branded 'offensive' and 'inappropriate' after attaching a life-size model of a hanged man - who appears to be black - to its road-side signage.
A group of residents reacted with fury online, accusing The Kings Head in Great Cornard, near Sudbury, Suffolk, of 'triggering' people who may have lost loved ones to suicide.
Others said the dark-coloured football used to represent the hanging man's head - coupled with a boater hat and black jacket and leggings, made it appear as if it was a 'black minstrel caricature'.
The 17th century pub has since hit back at the comments, with a spokesperson explaining that the football was green and that they 'strongly objected' to the 'blackface narrative'.
One worker told Mail Online the outrage was 'pathetic' and from the 'snowflake generation' - adding that the figure was just the pub trying to get into the spirit of Halloween and that the ball happened to be all they had to hand.
Many regulars also defended the controversial figure, saying it was not meant to cause offence and was 'a harmless bit of fun.'
The outcry led the pub to turn the figure around, so that it was hanging by its feet instead of its head.
One nearby resident who asked not to be named, said: 'The image of a man hanging is sick and outrageous. It is incredibly insulting to anyone who has lost a loved one.
A group of residents reacted with fury online, accusing The King's Head in Great Cornard, Suffolk, of 'triggering' people who may have lost loved ones to suicide after it strung up a life-size figure of a man hanging from a noose (pictured)
'But the fact that the figure has a black face with a boater hat, a black jacket and black leggings makes it reminiscent of a black minstrel caricature.
'I am sure that there was no intent to be racist or offensive, but it looked like an image of a black man being lynched.'
A worker at the pub, who did not give his name, told Mail Online: 'It's just a dummy, it's not racist, the whole thing has been blown out of proportion.
'The football belonged to the owners and their dog had punctured it, that's why they used it, this is the least racist pub in the world, it's owned by people from Iran and Pakistan.
'We've all had enough now, it's pathetic, it's all part of the snowflake generation who have got nothing else to do.'
The figure was strung up at the same time as the pub put out carved pumpkins above its doors, along with fake spider's webs over its windows and ghoulish bunting to publicise its Halloween party this Saturday.
The Sudbury Suffolk Moaners Facebook group attracted scores of comments after posting a picture of the hanging figure with the question: 'Anybody know what
