The antisemitic French comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala has been banned from entering the UK.

According to reports, the Home Office has warned airlines and border officials not to let the performer into the country.

A Home Office source was quoted in the Guardian as saying: "We can confirm that Mr Dieudonné is subject to an exclusion order.

"The Home Secretary will seek to exclude an individual from the UK if she considers that there are public policy or public security reasons to do so."

Jewish groups including the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust had written to Home Secretary Theresa May at the start of last week, asking for him to be barred from Britain.

Dieudonne, who popularised the antisemitic quenelle gesture, had said he intended to come to the UK to support his friend, the footballer Nicolas Anelka, who is facing a disciplinary hearing after performing the gesture during a Premier League match.

Anelka is contesting the charge.

Dieudonné has been convicted in France for inciting racial hatred through his antisemitic jokes and comments.

Some of his show have been banned by the French authorities.