A SOCIAL media storm has erupted after Your Worcester News referred to a boy wanted by police as “ginger”.

The word has been lambasted as “discriminatory”, not politically correct and even “racist” by some Facebook users, while one commented the newspaper had “sunk to a new low” by using the term.

But others have defended the newspaper for providing a description of the attacker designed to prompt witnesses to come forward.

Jill Ashley-Jones wrote on Facebook: “He is not a ginger boy, he is a boy with red hair. This kind of comment is quite discriminatory - and no I'm not a redhead.”

Hugh Williams added “would you make the same headline if the boy was black or Asian?” and Jo Heasman posted “if the boy had been blonde or had light brown hair the headline would have been completely different and that is discrimination”.

Other Facebook users however hit back at those complaining and labelled the matter an over-reaction.

Sarah Beaudro said: “Is it offensive to describe someone as blonde? What is the world coming to? It's the colour of the offender’s hair, merely a description to help catch the person who did it.”

Ian Hinton quipped “let's ban everything to a point where nobody can be described” while Kathleen English commented “how can it be offensive - it is a fact”.

Inclusion charity Onside, which is based in Worcestershire, works to promote fairness and equality for about 2,000 adults a year who are vulnerable, disadvantaged or discriminated against.

A spokeswoman for the charity confirmed it did not have any experience of people asking for support because of the colour of their hair.