A council has apologised after its magazine dedicated to Remembrance Day was criticised for using silhouettes of soldiers who weren't British and fought in the wrong era.

Maidstone Borough Council's Insight magazine is printed and delivered to homes in the area but the mistake was picked up quickly by members of the Royal British Legion.

RBL representative Derek Davison said there may as well have been a picture of a Roman gladiator on the front alongside a poppy.

He said: "I have to admit I didn't like it at all. It doesn't depict the First World War and it wasn't British Tommies.

"It is contrary to everything we are aiming to commemorate."

The council apologised for the error following a generic image search for "war background with silhouette of soldiers".

However, Mr Davison suggested more care should have been taken before choosing the picture to adorn the front of the publication which is edited and designed by the communications team.

He added: "I think they should take a bit more care. To be truthful they should take a look at it a damn sight closer.

"If you are celebrating Christmas then you search for a picture of Father Christmas or an angel.

"It's just bad research. I feel a bit incensed that they can do this sort of stuff without somebody looking over it first.

"It was a lack of concentration."

Leader of Maidstone Borough Council, Cllr Martin Cox, said: “We are truly sorry that the cover of the recent edition of our Borough Insight magazine has given a number of people cause for concern. We wanted to honour all our servicemen and women from conflicts, past and present - the illustration on the magazine’s front cover seemed an appropriate way to do this.

“The silhouette images were taken from a free stock image site and were listed as ‘war background with silhouette of soldiers’. The image is certainly not listed as German soldiers. In hindsight, it would have been better to make it very clear that they were British soldiers.

“We would like to apologise to anyone that this has caused any offence to, it was certainly not our intention.”