German postal service says sorry after printing stamps of Nazi chief Hess

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A new service allows customers to design their own stamps using Internet images.

Postal workers check for decency and taste - but admit something went badly wrong with the picture of Hess.

Gaff: Deutsche Post printed stamps of Nazi deputy Rudolf Hess, shown above with Adolf Hitler (left)

The stamps were sent out to members of the far-right NPD party which published a picture of them in their monthly magazine Deutsche Stimme (German Voice).

Hess is a hero among neo-Nazis.

He was Hitler's deputy until he flew to Britain in 1941 in a deluded bid to make peace, was found guilty of war crimes at the end of WW2 and sentenced to life in jail.

He died in 1987 aged 93 in Spandau Prison in Berlin.

Jailed: Hess pictured in Spandau Prison, West Berlin, where he died in 1987

Dirk Klasen of Deutsche Post said the company planned to review its oversight procedures as a result of the incident.

"It runs in most cases without difficulty," he said. "Only with the Hess image did something go awry. We are sorry."

Printing pictures of Nazi images, leaders or their slogans is forbidden under German law and first offences can carry a prison term of six months.

Right hand man: Hess, right, with Hitler wearing a traditional Alpine outfit while in Bavaria