Children who are bullied for having ginger hair are "not dissimilar" to race victims, the actress Lily Cole has claimed.

The former model claimed teachers often turn a blind eye to prejudice on the grounds of hair colour because it is not considered to be as bad as other forms of discrimination.

But the 32-year-old Star Wars actress said the abuse can be "really damaging", pointing out how she was left with low esteem when she was targeted.

The Cambridge University graduate has previously told how she was victimised while at her London primary school over her flame-coloured hair.

"What are the reasons that kids are bullied? It's because they're different," Cole said.

"On a surface level it was mostly because I had red hair. And at that time in England - and I still think it exists as a problem - being ginger was a common kind of slur.

"I think it's really problematic because it's the kind of slur that's largely overlooked by teachers because it's not really politically incorrect.

"It's not a racial slur but it's also not dissimilar because it's something a child can't change about themselves, short of dyeing their hair.

"My mum said it was jealousy but I didn't really believe that. It can be really damaging."

In an interview last year, pop star Ed Sheeran said she was "instantly ripped into" when he started primary school over his red hair, adding taunts meant he "cried every day".

Speaking to poet laureate Simon Armitage on his BBC podcast, Cole claimed she was also targeted by bullies because of her introverted personality, which she said made her appear "vulnerable".

However, Cole, who appeared on the cover of British Vogue when she was 16, said she no longer became a victim when she grew more confident.

"I was quite a quiet, shy child and I think that probably had an impact because as I got my confidence aged eight or nine and came into myself, the bullies more or less subsided," she added.

The mother-of-one says she and her family have taken pleasure by the fact the looks she had been teased for had helped launch her path to stardom.

"It felt like a beautiful karmic story," she said.