Blackpool Pleasure Beach has come under fire by an advertising watchdog for one of their Halloween adverts.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advert after receiving 29 complaints in total about the amusement park’s digital poster for their ‘Journey to Hell Freak Nights’ event.

The advert in question was at seen at Trafford Centre, Manchester, in September of this year. 

It had “ an image of a pale face, with yellow eyes, visible cracks on the skin and blood on the teeth and around the mouth.”

The ASA said the advertisement breached rules around ‘social responsibility’ and ‘harm and offence’.

They wrote: “26 complainants believed that the image used in the poster was inappropriate and disturbing for young children, challenged whether the ad was unsuitable for outdoor display.

“Ten of the complainants also challenged whether the ad was unsuitable for outdoor display because they believed that the image would be disturbing for adults.”

The ASA said: “The face in the ad had a very pale appearance, with cracked skin and yellow eyes, and that its mouth was open, apparently shouting or screaming.

“There was blood around its mouth and its teeth were jagged, suggesting the character had recently bitten something, and overall it had a threatening expression.”

The ASA agreed that the advert was “likely to distress young children”, particularly, but not only in combination with the text “Journey To Hell Freak Nights”.

However, they did not uphold the complaints that the image would be distressing to adults.

They said: "We understood that the Halloween theme would be clear to adults and while some might find the image unnerving it was unlikely to cause fear or distress to adults".

Blackpool Pleasure Beach said they believed that the number of complaints received was small for an image that would have been seen by thousands of people from a wide range of demographics.

They stated that there had been no intent to cause fear or distress and neither the image nor the wording of the ad offended the general public’s sensitivities.

However, the ASA concluded that the as “must not appear again in its current form”.

They added: “We told Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ltd to ensure that ads which were likely to cause fear or distress for young children did not appear where they were likely to see it.”

A spokesperson from Blackpool Pleasure Beach said: "Blackpool Pleasure Beach acknowledges the ASA’s ruling on our Journey to Hell outdoor advertising at the Trafford Centre and will follow their recommendations in the future."