The administrators of an Arsenal fan forum which used stars of David to denote which users had failed to donate to the site have apologised and promised to change the symbol.

The administrators of the site were adamant that the symbol was used because the nickname for their football rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, is "the Yids."

Members of the Arsenal fan forum We Are The Herd, which has more than 1,000 members, must donate in order to access certain areas of the site. Members who have not donated or who have only given a small amount have had Magen Davids placed next to their names whenever they post.

One of the administrators, who are all anonymous, told the JC: "This was no malice meant against the Jewish community, and we're going to change the symbol to something else."

He explained: "This was more meant because our local rivals use this symbol a lot, and what we were saying was that if you don't pay a subscription towards the upkeep of the website, then effectively, you are a Tottenham fan.

"We apologise if this has caused anyone any offence whatsoever.

"We are nothing to do with Arsenal Football Club and 75 per cent [of our users] are not British, we're totally not a racist outfit."

A spokesman from the Football Association's anti-racism campaign Kick It Out had previously promised action would be taken over the site.