FACEBOOK has said it is not planning to ban the craze of neck and nominate, despite warnings it could prove fatal.

Also known as neknominate, the challenge, which has spread across East Lancashire, involves people filming themselves swallowing large amounts of alcohol in increasingly dangerous settings.

It has been linked to the death of two young men in Ireland.

However, the social media site, where the videos are displayed, said the practice was ‘not necessarily against our rules’.

Barnoldswick councillor Jenny Purcell and Pendle and Lancashire County councillor Paul White were condemned by MPs after they uploaded videos of themselves downing pints of beer on their Facebook pages.

Today, the Tory Central Office would not comment on the antics of the two councillors.

Facebook said that neck and nominate did not violate its terms of use and so calls for it to be banned from the social media site were likely to go unheeded.

A Facebook spokesman said: “We do not tolerate content which is directly harmful, for example bullying, but controversial or offensive behaviour is not necessarily against our rules.

“We encourage people to report things to us which they feel break our rules, so we can review and take action on a case by case basis.

“We also give people the ability to remove themselves from an uncomfortable conversation through tools such as untagging and blocking.”

However, certain nominees have been making a stand against the potentially lethal game, deciding to use their nomination to create a video of a more charitable nature, such as giving food and drink to someone homeless, or making a donation to charity.