A T-SHIRT trader in Southampton has been threatened with legal action from a fashion giant over its world-famous FCUK label.

French Connection UK, which holds the world-famous trademark, fired off a warning letter to bemused Andy Carter.

He's landed in hot water for a T-shirt logo he dreamt up himself, involving a misspelt Irish four-letter word.

It says "fcek - the irish connection".

The inspiration was from the elderly priest in the hit Channel 4 comedy Father Ted. Father Jack Hackett would hurl drunken abuse while slumped in an armchair.

Former accountant Andy, pictured right, has found that Irish customers, in particular, like the humour behind the T-shirts.

So far 24 of them have been snapped up at his Wot 4 Fashion store in Park Street, Shirley.

But the 42-year-old businessman has been told by lawyers that his logo, which he has registered at the Patent Office, will have the public "confused" into believing there is a link between FCUK and him.

They also said in a letter that the fcek logo would be "detrimental" to the "distinctive character and reputation" of FCUK.

Andy, from Hedge End, has vowed to fight the case at a special hearing in London at the Patent Office, even though he is liable for hefty legal costs if he loses.

He said: "It's about freedom of expression. French Connection cannot own every derivative or anagram of an Anglo-Saxon swear word.

"The idea that a company with worldwide sales of £433m thinks it needs to take action against a small T-shirt trader in Shirley is ridiculous.

"I'm just trying to give people a laugh - no one thinks the word "fcek" has anything to do with French Connection.

"It seems to insult the intelligence of the public when it says that people will be confused. I'm sure they can work out the difference between French and Irish.

"I do have another trademark that was accepted - 'I can't believe it's not Buddha' - and I didn't get any objections from Unilever that people would confuse this with the spread that they make."

Clothing chain French Connection caused a storm of protest when it launched its FCUK logo in 1997.

Two of America's most famous stores briefly banned products with the iconic slogan, and the advertising watchdog in the UK was flooded with complaints.

A British judge called it a "tasteless and obnoxious" acronym in a court case in 1999, and one juror was discharged from another court case after wearing a FCUK logo.

French Connection and its lawyers, Davenport Lyons, declined to comment.