Advertising watchdog rules that campaign was unlikely to cause widespread offence but used misleading arrest statistics

The Home Office's "go home" poster vans targeting illegal immigrants have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for quoting misleading arrest statistics.

The vans bearing the message "go home or face arrest", which were criticised even by the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, were driven around six London boroughs with high migrant populations in July as part of a Home Office campaign to persuade illegal immigrants to leave the country.

The campaign sparked 224 complaints to the ASA from legal academics, migrant groups and the Labour peer Lord Lipsey claiming that they were offensive and irresponsible.

The poster vans featured an image of an official dressed in a Home Office-badged uniform and holding a pair of handcuffs, and the words: "In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest." Over the image was stamped the message: "106 arrests last week in your area."

The advertising watchdog acknowledged that the "go home" slogan was reminiscent of those used in the past to attack immigrants in Britain, but said it was generally used in that context as a standalone phrase or with racially derogatory language.

"We considered that, in context, the claim would be interpreted as a message regarding the immigration status of those in the country illegally, which was not related to their race or ethnicity," the ASA said in its ruling.

"We recognised that the poster, and the phrase 'go home' in particular, were likely to be distasteful to some in the context of an ad addressed to illegal immigrants, irrespective of the overall message conveyed, and we recognised that wording less likely to produce that response, such as 'return home' could have been used. However, we concluded that the poster was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or distress."

But the ASA did rule that the arrest figures were misleading and unsubstantiated because they related to a significant part of north London and not a local area, and did not relate to the week before the ad campaign began.

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed that the posters would not be used again in their current form but said they were pleased the ASA had concluded that the pilot was neither offensive nor irresponsible.

"We have always been clear that this campaign was about encouraging illegal immigrants to leave the country voluntarily and was not targeted at particular racial or ethnic groups," she said.

The home secretary, Theresa May, made clear on Sunday that she may decide to use the poster vans again. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said it was time May promised "never again to authorise slogans that are reminiscent of the 1970s National Front".