Soldiers pictured in blackface and Jimmy Savile’s tracksuit at Christmas party

A soldier has been pictured wearing blackface in a Zulu-style costume at a Christmas do, while another dressed as notorious paedophile Jimmy Savile.

They stood up on tables to take part in a singing contest as part of a regimental Christmas lunch last Wednesday.

The Army defended the competition as a ‘long-standing tradition’ but apologised for any ‘unintentional’ offence.

One photo shows the costumed trooper in full view of at least two black soldiers. Behind him a colleague stands in a shell-suit associated with the disgraced late children’s entertainer.

Another soldier, not seen in the now-deleted post, was dressed as an Arab in a headscarf, according to The Sun.

It is understood that senior officers were at the 12 Regiment Royal Artillery bash, where they served dinner to the lower ranks as a ‘thanks’.

The regiment’s barracks are on Thorney Island, West Sussex.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of social media content of a Regimental Christmas Lunch.

‘This is a long-standing unit tradition which includes a fancy dress competition reflecting the Regiment’s long and varied history.

‘While the Army maintains strict values and standards, it also promotes and maintains strong regimental traditions, of which soldiers are considerably proud.

‘Any offence that may have been caused was entirely unintentional and we can only apologise.’

A man purporting to be a former soldier, Ray Von, tweeted: ‘The British army is finished if things like this are no longer allowed.’

The Army apologised for what it called unintentional offence in 2016 after it tweeted an image of a soldier wearing blackface in the jungle captioned: ‘Being a soldier in the jungle requires a robust sense of humour.’

It said at the time: ‘The content of the tweet shows a picture of a soldier wearing camouflage and concealment measures, standard for jungle training in Belize.’

‘We can see how the tweet may have been misinterpreted, have immediately removed it and apologised for any offence it may have caused.’