A Mexican restaurant has been banned from handing out free sombreros to students because the publicity stunt was branded 'racist' by university officials.

Pedro's Tex-Mex Cantina, a Norwich restaurant, gave the hats to University of East Anglia students at a freshers' fair in the city in a bid to drum up business from the student population.

But officials at the students' union, where the fair was held last week, took the sombreros from students and ordered the restaurant to stop giving them out because they thought it was offensive for non-Mexicans to wear them.

Pedro’s Tex-Mex Cantina, a Norwich restaurant, gave the hats to University of East Anglia students at a freshers’ fair in the city to try to drum up business, but was told to stop by union officials (file image)

The union said it breached an advertising policy sent to stallholders, which said: 'Discriminatory or stereotypical language or imagery aimed towards any group or individual based on characteristics will not be permitted as part of our advertising.'

The policy specifies 15 types of discrimination, some of which include colour, ethnic origin, and nationality.

The union said the sombreros were seen as racist and a form of 'cultural appropriation'.

One first-year student told student newspaper The Tab: 'It's ridiculous – it's a comedy hat, not some sort of sacred religious dress. Who is going to get offended? Speedy Gonzales?'

Pedros Tex-Mex Cantina is an independent, family-owned restaurant that opened in 1991 in Norwich.

The restaurant is highly rated on review site TripAdvisor and dishes up a variety of traditional Tex-Mex dishes, including nachos, chilli and tacos.

Manager Matthew Ward was unavailable to comment this morning, but an unnamed worker at the restaurant said: 'It's ridiculous.'

However, the Union defended their stance on the large hat.

Campaigns and Democracy officer Chris Jarvis said: 'We know that when it comes to cultural appropriation the issues can sometimes be difficult to understand and many don't realise that they may be about to cause offence or break a policy.

'So we're discussing internally how we can improve our briefing to both external organisations and our own members so that people aren't caught out at the last minute.'

Pedros Tex-Mex Cantina (pictured) is an independent, family-owned restaurant that opened in 1991 in Norwich

He added: 'At the SU we want all members feel safe and accepted, so at all events we try to ensure that there is no behaviour, language or imagery which could be considered racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or ableist.'

But Britain's premier Mexican group dedicated to promoting the Latin American country's cultural heritage praised Pedros for giving out the free sombreros.

The British Mexican Society backed the Tex-Mex eatery for giving away the free hats.

Chairman Richard Maudslay said today: 'I would applaud any business of any nationality for doing anything to try to drum up business in a legitimate way, which this seems.

'I applaud them - it's not a Mexican issue. It's a much broader issue than that.