Internet adverts for several companies have been taken off social networking website Facebook because it emerged they were being displayed off material relating to the British National party (BNP).
Telecoms company Vodafone and bank First Direct were swiftly followed by fellow telecoms firm Virgin Media and motoring organisation AA after the four realised they were being promoted next to material on the far-right political party.
Facebook is unable to control where its adverts appear and some companies, like Orange, have criticised the move as a "knee-jerk reaction".
But Vodafone said it had made the move to "avoid misunderstandings", adding that it did not support any particular political party.
A FirstDirect spokesperson said: "We have got to make sure that the places we advertise are consistent with our own values and identity."
A spokesperson for the BNP, which exists to "secure a future for the indigenous people" of Britain, insisted there was "nothing wrong" with his party.
"Unfortunately the media have created a bogeyman and really the fault lies with the media, who for some reason have vilified the BNP, and it has scared these people off," he said.
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