Cadbury's has been banned from advertising its Freddo bars in adverts which appeared next to a school after being accused of using their frog mascot to promote junk food to children.

The ASA ruled against the Mondelez-owned company promoting the adverts seen on a bus stop near a primary school, the Freddo website and two YouTube videos featuring imagery of Freddo the Frog.

It was decided that the adverts were for products high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and directed at children.

The complaints also extended to a downloadable comic and audio book called The Missing Hop, which told the story of Freddo's mission to hunt down his friend Toad's missing hop.

Mondelez, trading as Cadbury, argued that the adverts were not aimed at children, because the books were intended to be read by parents while not being directly targeted at children and did not contain Cadbury or Freddo branding.

The company also said the poster was mistakenly placed within 100 metres of a primary school due to an error by site owner JCDecaux, and argued that its website was not focused on children under 16, did not have any child-friendly language, and its tone and presentation was not of any appeal to children, and was instead targeted at adults to enjoy with their family.