A NORTH-EAST baker lodged a formal complaint after an offensive spoof logo was linked to its online search results page.

An offensive slogan attached to the Greggs logo appeared before internet users Googling the bakery chain yesterday (Tuesday, August 19) afternoon.

Greggs, which has its headquarters in Newcastle and has almost 1,700 stores across the country, asked the search engine to investigate 'as a matter of urgency'.

The logo, apparently created as far back as 2010 by a Darlington-based user of the spoof website Uncyclopedia, contained the catchline: 'Greggs – providing s**t to scum for over 70 years'.

Google said the glitch was down to an 'algorithmic bug'.

It appears Greggs fell foul of a glitch in the Knowledge Graph, a complex database used by the tech giant to create an information panel that appears as part of search results.

Uncyclopedia – which describes itself as 'the content-free encyclopedia' – is a satirical parody of the online reference site Wikipedia.

The issue made waves on social media, with hundreds of amused Twitter users posting screen grabs of the search results page.

There was a spike in Twitter comments about Greggs at around lunchtime and the offending image had disappeared from Greggs' search results page by 3.30pm.

Greggs' digital media team was inundated with messages, with a number of good-humoured replies posted from the company's official Twitter account.

After the message was taken down, Greggs posted a picture of the word Google formed using sausage rolls, along with the tweet: "Aaaand relax! Maybe those kind folks @GoogleUK could give us the doodle tomorrow?"

A Greggs spokeswoman said, in a statement: “We are aware of the abusive logo and have made a formal complaint to Google and asked them to rectify this as a matter of urgency.”

A Google spokeswoman joked that the Greggs had promised to deliver doughnuts when the glitch was fixed.

She added: "Google worked hard to fix an algorithmic bug as soon as it was flagged.

"From its Twitter feed, Greggs seems pleased this is resolved."

Greggs can trace its roots back to the 1930s, when John Gregg started delivering eggs and yeast to families in the Newcastle area.

It opened its first shop in 1951 and now has about 20,000 employees nationwide.