A children’s TV presenter is accused of telling kids ‘I’m f****** you’ in sign language as he introduces his CBeebies show.

Mr Tumble, TV presenter Justin Fletcher, has been greeting kids with the rude sign, which involves gently rubbing the hands together between the thumb and first finger, on the show Something Special according to angry parents.

The CBeebies character says the gesture means ‘I’m happy to see you.’

But father-of-one Jamie Miller, who works for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, watched the show with his five-year-old daughter Katie says he has got it wrong.

He said: ‘The signs for ‘happy’ and ‘f******’ are quite similar but it was still and awful error to make.

‘Katie, who is learning sign language, asked what the gesture meant. I didn’t know what to tell her.’

The BBC yesterday denied the blunder saying they use Makaton signals, which vary from British sign language.

Royal National Institute for the Deaf spokeswoman Kate Sidwell said: ‘We advised the BBC that using Makaton would cause confusion. — Makaton is used more for children with learning difficulties — it is essentially a different language.

In British sign language ‘happy’ is shown by gently brushing the palms against each other. The swear word is made by brushing the hands together between the thumb and first finger.