A controversial 'white poppy' wreath was spotted at The Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London on Remembrance Sunday (November 14).

The wreath had been laid at the famous war memorial alongside hundreds of red poppy wreaths. Inside the wreath's circle read, "never again". It is not known who laid the wreath.

Senior military figures have said replacing traditional red poppies with white, or using both together, is insulting during Remembrance Day commemorations.

Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British Forces in Afghanistan, said "intertwining the hard-left political symbol of white poppies into wreaths of red poppies is a direct insult to our war dead."

However, the BBC has said it would allow presenters to wear white poppies on air if they wanted to. The Royal British Legion has said it has "no objection to any other colour of poppy in principle".

White poppies were first sold by the Co-operative Women's Guild, and later the Peace Pledge Union, since the 1930s.