When Leeds couple Stephanie and Howard Richman were holidaying recently in the Italian resort of Lido de Jessolo, near Venice, they popped into a local shop for some water.

And found something distinctly unwelcome on the shelves: bottles of wine and beer bearing the picture of Adolf Hitler. Bottles of "Fuhrerwein" were actually produced to honour Hitler's birthday in his lifetime, but those which the Richmans saw on sale in several shops are the wheeze of a modern Italian company.

"We were stunned, we couldn't believe it," Mr Richman said. "With the 70th anniversary of D-Day, it was especially horrendous."