A black soldier dubbed "Bubba" by his Army superiors was yesterday celebrating a £171,000 compensation win.

Staff Sergeant David Howard, 39, was horrified to discover a mocked-up job description completed as a joke by an officer.

In it he was described as a "fat hairy bear" and his sex life was mocked because he is married to a white woman.

But the final straw came when he was referred to as Bubba - a retarded black character from the film Forrest Gump - at a party in the officers' mess.

The written remarks were contained within a mock-up job description, which the soldier found in a senior officer's draw while serving with the Nato rapid reaction force in Germany.

Someone had written on the top "Bubba Howard" and next to nationality the word "British" was followed by six question marks.

Next to spouse's name was written "Ma'am" - a subservient term used by black slaves in the Deep South of America to refer to white women.

Mr Howard, of Newcastle, went to the employment tribunal, which was held in the city last March, to claim racial discrimination and said that the Army's system of redress failed.

The Ministry of Defence conceded last year that Mr Howard had been the victim of racial harassment and discrimination.

In a written judgement, the tribunal ordered the Ministry of Defence to pay Mr Howard £171,000 compensation for racial harassment and to meet his legal costs.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We are glad it has been brought to a conclusion."

Mr Howard, who is also celebrating the birth of a baby daughter, said: "I've not seen the documents to prove it yet and I can't quite believe it."