Officials sorry for airbrushing HMS Belfast from 2012 poster

HMS Belfast - normally moored to the right of City Hall - was airbrushed out of Cultural Olympiad posters

London 2012 officials have been forced to apologise for cropping one of Britain’s most famous and storied warships out of posters advertising next year’s Cultural Olympiad.

HMS Belfast played a key role during World War II, from the Normandy landings to action in Korea and was was later retired to a permanent mooring near City Hall on the River Thames, where it attracts over 250,000 visitors a year.

However, it has been airbrushed out of seven London 2012 Festival adverts in a campaign running on billboard sites across the capital following last week’s launch.

“HMS Belfast was unfortunately excluded from one of the seven adverts for the London 2012 Festival,” said a spokesman for organising committee Locog.

“We are very sorry about this – it was a simple mistake in the advertising production process, and we apologise if this mistake has caused offence.

“The mistake has been rectified and posters without HMS Belfast are being removed.”

© Sportsbeat 2011