An upset Englishman who was offended by Australian companies calling his countrymen 'Poms' has pledged to take his complaint to the United Nations, claiming the word is as racist as 'nigger' or 'wog'.
Gas-fitter Dave Thomason exploded when a series of light-hearted TV adverts used the term in the lead-up to the Ashes cricket series between the two nations.
In an attempt to have the ads taken off the air, he fired off protests to Australia's official human rights and advertising standards watchdogs.
But after both bodies rejected his assertion that the public use of Pom is racist, Mr Thomason has pledged to present his case to the UN.
'Oh yes, we are going to pursue it,' he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'We're going to the UN, we're just gathering more evidence ... and we've also picked up a lot of support.'
Mr Thomason, who emigrated to Australia from Birmingham almost 40 years ago, is spokesman for British People Against Racial Discrimination, which he says has a committee of 14 and branches in Perth and Melbourne.
