An advert for some of the UK's best-known beer brands has been banned for implying that alcohol is linked to social success and helps overcome problems.

The ad for the Let There Be Beer campaign featured a man nervously getting to know his girlfriend's father and a woman overcome with office work before they reached for a glass of beer.

The Alcohol Concern Youth Alcohol Advertising Council complained that the ad implied that alcohol could contribute to an individual's popularity or confidence, was a key component of social success, portrayed alcohol as indispensable and implied that it had therapeutic qualities.

The Coalition of UK Brewers, made up of ABInBev, Carlsberg UK, Heineken UK, Miller Brands UK and Molson Coors Brewing Company, said the ad was meant to "celebrate the role that beer can play in life, but in a light-hearted, amusing way".

It felt that the storyline involving the woman at work showed her pleased to be out of the office rather than being pleased because she had a beer.

Advertising clearance agency Clearcast believed nothing in the storylines implied alcohol could contribute to an individual's popularity or confidence.

But the Advertising Standards Authority- said the storyline where the man met his girlfriend's father could be considered to imply that alcohol contributed to his popularity and confidence.

It ruled that the ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.