Plaid Cymru has apologised for poking fun at the late Queen Mother and local residents on one of its Web sites.

A site run by activists from the South Merthyr and Rhymni branch of the Welsh nationalist party contained a "a photograph of Star Wars character Yoda dressed as the Queen Mother", the Western Mail reports.

The image appeared as a "Memorial Photo" under a section labelled "In Memory: The Queen Mam". Heaping insult to injury, another part of the site featured a disfigured union flag under the banner "Stuff the Jubilee".

And there's more.

Another section, called the Gurnos Estate Olympic Bid, contained a spoof article labelling members of the deprived estate as drunks and crooks.

A spokeswoman for the Plaid Cymru branch told the Western Mail that offending sections of the site had been removed and apologised for any offence caused. ®

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