Clothes retailer Next has stopped selling a Christmas jumper with an iconic Pan Am logo after complaints it was causing offence to the victims of the Lockerbie bombing.

Next removed the £36 sweater from its website after a petition was launched by a Lockerbie resident claiming it was disrespectful to those affected by the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town on 21 December 1988.

Some 259 passengers and crew and 11 local residents were killed when a Boeing 747, owned by the American airline, exploded en route from London to New York. Pan Am ceased operating there years later.

A Next spokesperson said: “In response to customer contact, Next removed the ‘All + Every’ third-party branded items from its marketplace over the weekend. We apologise for any upset caused.”

Customer Phil Geddes launched a petition on Change.org to have the sweater removed from the Next website, which attracted more than 1,500 signatures in three days.

He wrote: “To see a product that makes light of such a tragedy or uses it for commercial gain is not only insensitive but also deeply hurtful.”