CARNIVAL organisers have apologised after Saturday's parade in Maldon was gatecrashed by a trio of blacked-up cyclists.

Onlookers were shocked as the cyclists joined the procession wearing costumes and 'blackface'.

They also had 'War" written on their backs. 

The history of blackface goes back to theatre performances in the 1800s and 1900s where white actors would perform with their faces painted black to mimic black people in a stereotypical and harmful light.

One eye-witness called it an "open display of racism".

The Maldon resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “This was absolutely the last thing I would have expected to see at a community event, especially such a high-profile event which should in theory have been closely controlled by marshals and the police.

“Whilst I appreciate they may not have been an official part of the parade, they were immediately after the final majorette group and before the final official cars so should have been noticed and removed.

“It was shocking to see such an outwardly open display of racism in the 21st Century and many in the crowd around me were equally appalled.

“I contacted the carnival team who assured me that the men dressed in 'blackface' were not part of the official parade and directed me to their Facebook statement.

“Whilst the statement does say the 'costumes' were inappropriate it doesn’t call out this behaviour as racism and condemn those who caused the offence.

"Personally, I would have liked to see a much stronger statement.”

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Carnival organisers say they are now looking at ways to prevent similar incidents happening again.

They hope to have more checkpoints at future carnivals to make sure no one can join the parade without them knowing.

Carnival spokesman Louise Pringle said: “We can’t stop people dressing up, but we can put measures in for next year.

“It’s not approved by Maldon Carnival at all and we don’t want that to reflect the carnival or Maldon.

“All entries must check in rather than just joining in and had they checked in we would have turned them away.

“Please accept our sincere apologies if anyone was offended.”

The Maldon and Burnham Standard have made the decision not to publish photographs of the men.