LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: British clothing retailer Burton has withdrawn a men's t-shirt after a university language student pointed out its motif contained a neo-Nazi slogan, a report said on May 12th.

Paddy Shuttleworth bought one of the 12-pound (17.5-euro, 23.7-dollar) t-shirts from a Burton store in Bristol, western England, and noticed its design contained the words: "We will cleanse Russia of non-Russians!"

"I did mention to the girl as I bought one of the shirts that it was politically probably quite dangerous," he was quoted as saying in The Guardian.

"I've spoken to a Russian friend and she said you would be arrested if you wore it in Russia," the Bristol University student added.

The Guardian said the words, in Cyrillic script surrounding a double-headed eagle motif, uses the old word for Russia, "Rus", as a way of distinguishing between ethnic Russians and those with Russian citizenship.

"The phrase is typical of those painted on the homes of foreigners by Russian neo-Nazis," the newspaper said, adding that a Russian-speaking shop assistant also told bosses it was inappropriate.

A Burton spokeswoman was quoted as saying that they were told by their suppliers that the slogan translated loosely as "Be proud of Russia".

They then withdrew it from sale in shops and online.

In 2002, British sportswear manufacturer Umbro was forced to apologise after inadvertently naming a sport shoe Zyklon, causing outrage among Jewish groups. Zyklon B crystals were used to kill millions of Jews in Nazi death camps.