AN ADVERTISING watchdog has reversed its decision to ban Oak Furniture Land’s “No veneer in ‘ere” claims.

The furniture company, founded in Burnley and still has a store on Prestige Retail Park , was stopped from using the phrase in relation to its dining tables in its adverts last October by the Advertising Standards Agency.

The watchdog said that Oak Furniture Land’s claims, made in a TV ad, YouTube ad and on its website, that all its products were created from hardwood were misleading.

They believed that some of the firm’s dining tables were made using an “oak wrap” – which, the complainant said, was effectively a veneer.

The phrase “no veneer in ‘ere” was said four times in one advert and seven times in a second advert, the ASA said.

Oak Furniture Land said that the oak wrap technique was a recognised way of joining pieces of hardwood. They told the ASA that it was only used on the legs of some of their dining tables, constituting less than three per cent of their overall stock of furniture.

The ASA found against the company in October 2016. But, following an independent review and the submission of new evidence, the watchdog reversed their previous decision.

They said that they came to the decision because the company’s furniture did not contain cheaper materials like MDF and the oak wrap technique was used only on some table legs.

Jason Bannister, CEO and founder of Oak Furniture Land, said: “Just under a year ago the ASA questioned our motives and went against its own experts, thousands of consumers and took a mistaken view on what ‘solid’ and ‘veneer’ meant.

“The implications of this went far past Oak Furniture Land and this decision made it harder for consumers to make an informed choice around quality in many areas, not just when choosing furniture.”

“With the incredible growth of online shopping it has become increasingly simple to buy from just a picture and it is equally as simple to be misled around the materials used.

“Now, more than ever before, it is important that retailers should be made to use clear and truthful labelling. This ruling should pave the way for a set of rules that make retailers or manufactures tell consumers what the furniture they are buying is actually made of.”