London, November 10 : A pub in North West England has drawn a lot of criticism from the local residents because the picture used in its sign shows an uncanny resemblance to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The John Masefield pub in Rock Ferry, Wirral, has been named in honour of local hero of the same name, who was made poet laureate in 1930.

The manager of the pub, a new addition to the JD Wetherspoons chain, has refused to change the photograph.

"Masefield is a local hero and that is what he looked like so the sign is going to stay," the Sun quoted Seanie Walsh as saying.

"The sign went up at the weekend and I heard of the complaints this morning. I think one person has taken particular exception to it and spoken to our head office. No offence was ever intended. This is my sixth Wetherspoons across the UK and all of them have paid tribute to local history. Decades later we shouldn't penalise talented people simply because of how they cut their moustache," Walsh said.

Local councillor Steve Niblock said that it was unfortunate that the pub used a particular picture of Masefield that resembled Hitler.

"I said to Wetherspoons, if you put John Masefield into Google you get all sorts of pictures of him and it is unfortunate that they chose one which looks like this," he said.

A spokesman for the company, however, said that the portrait had been prepared in good faith.

"This matter is being considered very seriously," he said. (ANI)