A record number of adverts had to be withdrawn or amended last year after action by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

More than 10,000 adverts were found to breach standards in 2018 - a 53 per cent increase on the previous year.

The rise has been driven by a huge increase in complaints about online adverts, which outnumbered gripes about TV adverts by almost three to one.

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Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) praised the ASA for taking “robust action” to protect consumers.

Emma Grant-McColm, a spokeswoman for CAS, said: “Citizens Advice Bureaux often see cases of consumers who feel they have been mis-sold or misled about a product. We are always keen to help people understand their rights and consumers and help them get redress where possible.

“In that context we commend the ASA for taking such robust action to identify and sanction wrongful advertising. In one sense it is worrying that so many adverts are falling short of the standards we would expect.

"But in another it is good to know that the ASA are standing with us in protecting consumer interests.

"People should be entitled to feel confident that products are being advertised fairly and accurately, and where this is not the case traders should expect to be penalised."

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The ASA's annual report revealed that it received a total of 33,727 complaints last year.

Of Those, 16,059 were about online adverts - an increase of 41 percent on the previous year.

Over the same period, the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body that writes and maintains the UK Advertising Codes, issued more than 500,000 pieces of advice to businesses to help them get their adverts right.

The report also highlighted the ASA's action on secondary tickets and misleading pricing, including enforcement action against ticket resale site Viagogo.

The agency also took action on parcel delivery charges - making it clear that UK delivery should apply to all areas including Northern Scotland - and superimposed text in TV adverts.

It also issued new guidelines on gambling adverts, including advice on protecting under-18s from content likely to appeal to them such as the use of animations in adverts.

The ASA is also using groundbreaking technology to protect children from online advertising.

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The monitoring technology uses child 'avatars' - online profiles which simulate children’s browsing activity - to monitor what youngsters see when they are online.

This resulted in bans for five gambling firms whose adverts were identified on children's websites.

ASA Chief Executive, Guy Parker said: "It’s been a busy year, largely driven by complaints and cases about online adverts.

"That’s why our new five-year strategy is focused on strengthening further the regulation of online advertising and using new technology to protect the public.

"Our recent use of new avatar technology is a taste of what’s to come under the new strategy and we look forward to working with our partners to increase further the impact we’re having online."

The ASA's annual report states that it is planning to extend its avatar work and explore other new technologies to help better protect the public online.