A POSTER featuring four scantily-clad women which provoked anger among worshippers in Bury has been given a dressing down.

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint lodged by Bury Muslim Khalid Hussain, who along with other representatives of various religious faiths, branded the billboard in Rochdale Road as "offensive".

Mr Hussain claimed the poster for Sloggi underwear should not have been placed near four places of worship, including mosques and churches.

He sent a 200-signature petition to the ASA claiming that the poster, which showed four models wearing only G-strings and with their back to the camera, was "environmental pollution".

Although ruling the advert was unlikely to cause serious offence in the main, the ASA acknowledged the "nakedness shown in the poster" could offend Muslims if placed near a mosque as it was a place of worship.

It has told UK-based Triumph International, which manufactures the Sloggi range of underwear, to "take more care with the placing of similar posters" in the future.

Triumph said it always told its contractors to avoid using sites near mosques.

Father-of-two Mr Hussain (33), of Ingham Street, Bury, has welcomed the ruling.

The former director of Bury Racial Equality Council said: "I am very pleased to have played a small part in this decision. The most important thing is that a small town in Lancashire has been able to set a precedent for the whole country. This is a victory for the people of Bury.

"Such posters should never be put up in the vicinity of places of religious worship, whether a mosque, church, synagogue or temple."

He went on: "I sent in a petition with 200 names. A vicar was among those who signed. People from all religious denominations supported us.

"This was not a Muslim crusade. It was simply that such posters were not suitable to be placed in the vicinity of places of worship. We need to maintain the sanctity of these places.

"I'm glad that common sense has prevailed. This wasn't a complaint against pornography or the way of life in the UK. It was simply to protect the sanctity of places of worship."

Nationwide, the same poster drew 23 complaints to the ASA before the Sloggi campaign ended.