Had an Almighty Row in Trafalgar Square Today

Among English Romani Gypsies the term Pikey refers to a Traveller that is not Romani............in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the definition became even looser and is sometimes used to refer to a wide section of the (generally urban) underclass of the country, or merely a person of any social class who "lives on the cheap".
from wiki

So.. not a slight against romani at all then. Used to work for a guy who grew up gypsy style, had no problem referring to himself as a pikey, his nickname was pike and didn't mind the term at all. Can't speak for all of em tho.
Pikey is a state of mind/attitude, not an ethnic group. At least not nowadays. This is the english language, have you not noticed that pretty much any word, offensive or not can be twisted quite happily to fit any situation?

Swearing in front of peoples mums is not cool...