Souvenirs that celebrate fascist dictator Benito Mussolini have been banned in the region where the former Italian prime minister was born.

Shop owners or vendors could be sent to jail if they continue to sell busts, coffee mugs, pins and even baby clothing that show the founder of the National Fascist Party, who ruled Italy until he was ousted in 1943.

Government officials in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, which includes the cities of Bologna and Parma, passed a motion banning the sale of souvenirs with fascist symbols.

Shop owners or vendors in Emilia-Romagna could be sent to jail if they continue to sell fascist souvenirs

Souvenir coffee mugs with images of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler are sold at a shop in Predappio

Emilia-Romagna is the first region in Italy to implement such a ban.

Anyone caught breaking the new law could be sent to jail for six months to two years, The Local reported.

The sale of fascist symbols is now classed as 'apologizing for fascism', an act that began a crime in Italy in 1952.

'The move is an important step in sending out a strong message against the trivialisation of history and fascism's evils,' Democratic Party councillor Nadia Rossi told La Repubblica.

Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Munich, Germany in 1940

Rimini Mayor Andrea Gnassi tabled the motion last year after two Jewish-American tourists complained about Mussolini and Hitler-themed wines in the window of a shop.

The far-right Northern League and the centre-right Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia parties tried to block the motion, arguing it would hurt the local economy.

After he was removed from power, Mussolini, who was born in the town of Predappio in 1883, was executed by Italian communists in the province of Como in 1945 as he attempted to flee to Spain.

His mistress, Clara Petacci, and several others travelling with them were also shot dead.

Tens of thousands of tourists visit Benito Mussolini's tomb in his hometown of Predappio every year

The bodies of the 61-year-old and Petacci, 33, were taken to Milan, where they were hung upside down and put on public display outside a petrol station.

Souvenirs with Mussolini's image were widely available in his hometown, which attracts tens of thousands of admirers and tourists every year.