A regional newspaper has paid the British National Party £259.99 in an out-of-court settlement after an infringement of copyright.

A story which appeared in Wales on Sunday last November included a photograph of the party’s West Wales deputy organiser Roger Phillips.

The BNP said the picture, which was taken by a party official, was used without permission by the Trinity Mirror weekly from Mr Phillips’ page on a social networking website.

The far-right group claims the money is now being used to help fund the campaign of its candidate in the Neath constituency against Welsh Secretary and veteran anti-racism campaigner Peter Hain in the upcoming general election.

The original story claimed that Mr Phillips’ company Patriot Products had been forced to stop the sale ‘Golly’ badges with football scarves following threats from Premiership football clubs.

A media spokesman for the BNP told HTFP: “The article used a photograph taken by BNP official Clive Bennett from Swansea which was lifted without authorisation from Mr Phillips’ personal Facebook account.

“After correspondence between the editor of the Wales on Sunday, Tim Gordon, and Mr Phillips, the paper decided to settle out of court and agreed to pay the amount of £259.99 as compensation.

“Mr Phillips has now used this money to partly fund a BNP candidate in the Neath seat against Peter Hain.”

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said the company would not be making any comment on the story.