Ananova:

Owners of a flagship new pub may have to ditch its sign - because the face on it looks like Adolf Hitler.

It is supposed to depict poet John Masefield but locals reckon it is a dead-ringer for the Nazi dictator.

Neighbours of the John Masefield pub in Rock Ferry, Wirral, have already nicknamed it The Adolf, reports The Sun.

JD Wetherspoon may now ditch the sign before the pub opens next Monday to avoid upsetting customers.

Newsagent Keith Buckley, 25, said: "Everyone's already calling the pub The Adolf."

JD Wetherspoon dedicated the pub to former poet laureate Masefield due to his local roots.

They based their sign on a picture of Masefield, who died in 1967 at 88, when he had a "toothbrush" moustache like Hitler's.

Manager Seanie Walsh, 55, said: "We must admit he does look a bit like Hitler on the sign, but that didn't occur to us until after we put it up.

"We've got lots of pictures of John Masefield inside from different stages of his life and we hope people come down and learn more about him while having a drink."

A JD Wetherspoon spokesman said: "We'll look at whether the sign needs to be changed. It was not our intention to cause offence."