Two boys who suffered racist attacks in Sutton during a visit to the area have received an official apology from the British Ambassador to Germany.

Teenagers Kevin Petersen and Andreas Munoz Gonzales, from Harsewinkel Realschule, were assaulted and subjected to racist taunts in Stonecot Hill last October.

One boy had his glasses broken while the other was shoved into a bush.

The boys' teacher Gunhild Rubesamen said she believed the attacks were influenced by Second World War-themed comics and red top tabloids.

But last Friday, at a reception at the British Embassy in Berlin on his last day in office, ambassador Sir Paul Lever apologised to two boys and their teacher in person.

German-born Merton councillor Horst Bullinger, who attended the reception, said: "The irony in this case is that Kevin Petersen has a British father and Andreas Munoz Gonzales a Spanish one. I had a long conversation with the two boys, who both expressed their interest in coming to Britain again."

He added: "There is, of course, a lack of knowledge about the modern Germany among most Britons and, unfortunately, also the young ones. And then of course there is the black (and some other) humour."

But he said if there was serious anti-German sentiment in this country he could not have become a councillor.

He said: "Everyone agreed we ought to draw a line now under this unfortunate incident and try to look forward to more intensive future school exchanges between the two countries and to learn more about each other's history, even that after 1945."

May 30, 2003 09:30