Comedian Jason Manford has come under attack on social media from far-right political group Britain First after claiming he had deleted some old school friends for sharing their videos.

The 34-year-old tweeted that he had blocked three friends from his personal Facebook account for sharing Britain First videos, adding: "Nowt more depressing than finding out someone you know is a racist."

But Manford was quickly flooded with comments from followers claiming that right-wing group Britain First was not racist, and attacking the comedian for supporting Islam.

Britain First also responded on their own Facebook page with a photo of Manford next to comedian Ross Noble with a Nazi flag in the background, believed to be taken when the pair starred in a production of the Mel Brooks musical The Producers, which is based around a fictional play called Springtime For Hitler.

Britain First wrote: "How is it 'racist' to oppose a multi-racial religion whose adherents include black, white, Asian and Oriental people? Is it 'racist' to oppose Islamic extremism?

"Any man who thinks Nazism is funny is a disgrace."

Manford responded: "No, Nazism isn't funny, but Mel Brooks' 'The Producers Musical' is.

"As you know (because I'm, you know, a human being) I am very much against extremists of all belief systems. I also like to put Britain first (note the lack of capital letter). But my Britain is very different to their idea of Britain."

The former One Show presenter - who parted company with the BBC show after having internet sex chats with fans - also changed his profile pictures to one showing him entertaining British troops in Afghanistan and another of him enjoying a Ramadan dinner with a Muslim family last year.