A weekly newspaper which had been under fire for running so-called ‘sex ads’ has now confirmed it has banned them.

The Croydon Advertiser was criticised for continuing to carry adult services ads, after its reporters exposed a ‘sinister brothel’ during an undercover investigation.

The Northcliffe-owned title has now agreed to change the rules governing the adverts it accepts after discussions with the Metropolitan Police.

Editor Glenn Ebrey confirmed the news on Twitter saying:  “As you will see in Friday’s Advertiser, we have now ceased to run such adverts, in line with the Met’s guidelines.”

The paper had previously been targeted by a community group campaigning against the ads called Croydon Community Against Trafficking, which claims such adverts are linked to sex slavery.

Rival Newsquest title the Croydon Guardian banned personal services ads in 2008.

Later that year the Met wrote to 170 editors across London warning that they could be criminally liable if the adverts carried in their titles turned out to be linked to human trafficking.

It urged newspapers to put in place systems to ensure those seeking to place advertisements were not a cover for criminal activity.