Playmobile is facing a backlash online for creating a toy that buyers have accused of looking like a slave, complete with shackle.

This is deplorable <p>Stephen Webb, the president of the Sacramento branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People </p>

A Californian mother complained to Playmobil via Facebook after a dark-skinned, shabbily dressed pirate character in a ship set owned by her five year old son came with a neckpiece that she said looked like a slave collar.

Ida Lockett of Sacremento, California told CBS that the set was “definitely racist”.

“You cannot have this specific accessory and call it anything else. The fact that you can Google it, look it up, say what it is – it’s a slave collar. It’s a racist toy,” she said.

(Facebook)

Playmobil have released a statement saying that the pirate figure is a crew member on the ship and not captive. “The figure was meant to represent a pirate who was a former slave in a historical context. It was not our intention to offend anyone in anyway,” the company said.

Stephen Webb, the president of the Sacramento branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) demanded that the toy is pulled from the shelves. “This is deplorable. This cannot be accepted, and it needs to be pulled off the shelf,” he told CBS.

In the comments, people were divided about whether the toy was racist. "This is a totally inappropriate toy. Would it be acceptable to have a toy that depicted children going into the ovens at Auschwitz? Of course not. Why would anyone think that depiction of a gruesome historical reality is a good idea for a child's play-set?" one said.

Other were more sceptical. "Get a grip and quit looking for racism where it doesn't exist," another said.

A spokesperson for Playmobil told the Independent: “This piece is from a Playmobil pirate playset that is designed to depict life on a 17th-century pirate ship on the high seas. If you look at the box, you can see that the pirate figure is clearly a crew member on the pirate ship and not a captive. The figure was meant to represent a pirate who was a former slave in a historical context. It was not our intention to offend anyone in anyway.”