Asda offered its "sincere apologies" for the offence it caused
Supermarket chain Asda has apologised and withdrawn a Halloween outfit it was selling online as a "mental patient fancy dress costume", after criticism.
The £20 item included clothing, fake blood, a mask and a fake meat cleaver.
Following criticism, including from one "stunned" mental health charity, the store offered "sincere apologies for the offence it has caused".
It would be making a "very sizeable donation" to mental health charity Mind, Asda added.
In a statement, Asda, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, said the sale had been a "completely unacceptable error".
"[The costume] should never have been sold and it was withdrawn as soon as it was brought to our attention."
Asda added: "We're deeply sorry one of our fancy dress costumes has upset people."
It is understood the costume had been on sale through Asda's clothing outlet George for two days, before being withdrawn from sale on Wednesday morning after being spotted internally.
Asda said the product had been removed from the website in the afternoon but the relevant page remained visible for a few hours.
It disappeared after the criticism on Twitter started to emerge.
'Frightened of stigma'Katie Dalton, of Welsh mental health charity Gofal, wrote on Twitter: "Dear @asda, how on earth did you come to the conclusion that this is an appropriate fancy dress costume? Disgraceful."
And former Downing Street director of communications, Alastair Campbell, who has written about his experiences with mental health issues, tweeted: "Look what Asda's selling... what possesses these people?"
Former footballer Stan Collymore, who has had a well-documented battle with depression, also criticised Asda for using a "stereotype".
"Do you actually realise how many people are hanging themselves because of being frightened of the stigma?" he tweeted.
The charity Rethink Mental Illness also took to Twitter to say it was "stunned" by the costume's description, but later thanked Asda "for responding" to the "concerns".
The internet link to the website page where the costume was being sold used the words "zombie fancy dress costume".
But the product was titled "mental patient fancy dress costume" on the page itself.
The product details read: "Everyone will be running away from you in fear in this mental patient fancy dress costume.... it's a terrifying Halloween option."
Source: BBC News - Business http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24278768#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
