India stops Jade perfume bottles

Jade Goody visited the bottle plant in India last year

A plant in India which makes perfume bottles endorsed by British television star Jade Goody has stopped production following the Big Brother racism row.

The news came after Goody's perfume was withdrawn from at least one UK chain last week following the row.

Goody visited the factory in western Gujarat state when her perfume, Shh, was launched last year, officials said.

She was accused of leading alleged racist bullying of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on the reality TV show.

Goody was evicted from the Big Brother house on Friday after her on-screen rows with Shetty.

An unprecedented 40,000 people complained to the UK's media regulator, Ofcom. The racism row also saw top politicians in the UK and India drawn into the debate.

'Abused a country'

Stephen Noronha, vice-president of Pragati Glass where the perfume bottles are made, told the Times of India: "The bottles were in production this morning but our client in UK asked us to stop production."

He said Goody had seemed polite and curious when she toured the plant last year.

Shetty's treatment sparked protests in India last week

"She even said 'India is a beautiful country'. Maybe they all say it."

Factory workers who met Goody on her visit were said to have been hurt by her comments.

One executive, Manish Agarwal, said: "I have great respect for her as our client but her conduct has left us very shocked.

"Once you abuse a whole country, you cannot take it back," he told the paper.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the factory may want to distance itself from her because of fears that her comments might invite a backlash.