HIGH street fashion chain New Look has been slammed for selling a t-shirt printed with 'post party depression'.

Mental health charities and a politician who has campaigned to end the stigma associated with the illness hit out at the retailer for "making light" of sufferers.

The navy blue t-shirt with the slogan printed in block capitals across the chest is available online for £5.99.

The Evening Times also went to one New Look superstore in shopping centre Silverburn and found the garment among discounted items in the menswear department for the knock down price of £2.

But six t-shirts were on sale at full price in the chain's flagship store in Buchanan Street.

Chief Executive of Glasgow Association for Mental Health, Jenny Graydon, said: "A lot of the people we support will feel that the t-shirt trivialises mental health problems.

"It promotes the impression that depression is a minor thing that you suffer from at the weekend after a few too many ginger ales.

"In fact, it's a serious illness that affects every element of someone's life and this t-shirt is unhelpful because it makes light of people who have depression."

New Look drew criticism for selling the 'post party depression' t-shirt as new figures released by the Scottish Government revealed that 5,297 people were admitted to Glasgow hospitals last year with mental health problems.

Nigel Henderson, the chief executive of mental health charity Penumbra, said: "One in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point during their life, with depression being one of the most common forms of mental ill health.

"The language we use around mental health is incredibly important and everyone in society has a responsibility to take this issue seriously and not contribute to stigma and discrimination.

"I hope New Look will think much more carefully in future when deciding what slogans they use on their clothing."

SNP MSP John Mason has spoken of the stigma associated with mental health issues in the Scottish Parliament and raised the problem with the First Minister last year.

He said: "I think this t-shirt is a bit insensitive. I do think we need to be especially sensitive to mental health, which has tended to be the poor relation in health services and the butt of many jokes."

The high street fashion chain was also taken to task by a customer who posted on the New Look's Facebook page.

Gaya Ramanathan wrote: "As much as I love New Look, a friend and I were pretty disgusted to see a 'post party depression' top in store today.

"Not only is this distasteful and offensive but also shows how mental illness is perceived. You wouldn't post cancer pun t-shirts and this is no different."

The administrators of the Facebook page replied that they would "pass this over to the relevant team to look into".

The Evening Times contacted New Look but the fashion chain did not respond to a request for comment.