Paris Hilton denies enacting Nazi salute

Paris Hilton has denied she was enacting a Nazi salute as she partied on a luxury yacht.

A spokesman for the American heiress insisted to British newspaper Daily Mail that she was merely dancing and scratching her face at the same time.

In the early hours of Monday morning Hilton was pictured wearing a military-style hat and appeared to be pointing her hand upwards in a Heil Hitler-like salute aboard a yacht in the south of France.

According to her spokesman: "Paris was dancing and having fun with her arm up in the air as she always dances like that and was scratching [her] face when a photo was taken."

"The hat was not a communist hat, it's a military style hat from a club. Half of her family is Jewish and many of her friends are as well," the spokesman added.