For a senior police officer advising the Afghan Government on counter-terrorism it may, with hindsight, have been an unfortunate choice of disguise.

Chief Superintendent Colin Terry has been condemned by his own force for dressing up as Osama bin Laden to take part in a Cornish carnival procession.

Mr Terry’s choice of fancy dress has now been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. He has also been told by Devon and Cornwall Police that were he not on secondment to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office he would be subject to disciplinary measures.

The carnival parade took place in the village of Grampound on Saturday, a few days before the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

It was attended by the usual favourites, including a fairy queen, a bunny girl and an Austin Powers lookalike. Towering above them all was the imposing figure of bin Laden in his turban and long Afghan robe.

Mr Terry, who is believed to have attended a 9/11 anniversary service at the World Trade Centre in New York in 2006, was unmasked after disclosing his identity to a press photographer covering the carnival.

Instead of shrugging it off as an unfortunate prank, Devon and Cornwall police released a statement condemning Mr Terry.

A spokesman said: “Devon and Cornwall Constabulary takes any incident such as this very seriously, and were Chief Superintendent Terry currently working for the force misconduct proceedings would be considered.

“The matter has been referred to the IPCC for consideration. The decision to participate in the carnival and the choice of costume were both personal decisions by Chief Superintendent Terry himself.

“While we believe that his actions were misguided rather than malicious, they were clearly inappropriate, and we would condemn any such actions by any police officer as unacceptable.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed last night that Mr Terry is currently assigned to the EU’s policing mission in Afghanistan. The unit advises the Afghan Government on anti-terrorism and anti-drugs policy.

An FCO spokesman said: “We are considering the next steps to be taken.”

Mr Terry said yesterday that he bought the costume in a local fancy dress shop and had no intention of being disrespectful to the victims of 9/11. The disguise was supposed to be a clue to his identity as many residents of his home village were aware he had been serving in Afghanistan.

“I have raised a lot of money for charity in recent years dressing up in the carnival. I am quite horrified that someone would see this negatively,” he said. “I’m disappointed that people are linking my occupation to a carnival. The point of the costume was to give a clue to locals about who I was.”

Donna Still, the chairwoman of the organising committe for the carnival, which is more than 100 years old, said that she was unaware of any critical comments. “Everyone just thought it was very amusing. Quite often you’ll get topical things from the news,” she said.

The photographer, Paul Williams, said that there was astonishment when the bin Laden character arrived and came over to introduce himself. Mr Williams said: “I was taking pictures of some children in fancy dress when ‘Osama’ approached me and said, ‘You don’t recognise me, do you? It’s me, Colin’. ”

He added: “I said, ‘Hi Colin, what are you doing wearing this outfit mate? Don’t you think that it’s a bit risqué?’.

“At least half of the fellow carnival participants were clearly avoiding being near him because they didn’t feel comfortable about him dressed up like this.

“There were several hundred people there and because the weather was so awful Mr bin Laden became the focus of the parade. Lots of people expressed distaste and before long it was common knowledge who the mystery man was.”

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