A Hamburg Regional Court ruled on Friday that Google must remove photos of a Nazi-themed orgy involving former Formula One boss Max Mosley.

The search engine must refrain from displaying the images in the search results at Google.de, according to the court.

The judge said the six images taken from a video of the sadomasochistic orgy seriously breached Mosley's privacy.

The video was secretly filmed in 2008 by Britain's now defunct News of the World tabloid and published with a front-page headline that read, "F1 boss has sick Nazi orgy with five hookers."

If Google continues to show the photos in its search results, it could face a fine of up to 250,000 euros ($342,175). However, Google has permission to appeal the ruling to the state superior court in Hamburg.

Mosley's lawyer Tanja Irion praised the outcome, "This decision is a milestone for the protection of individual rights on the Internet," she said.

Mosley, 73, won a court case against the News of the World in 2008 for breach of privacy. He subsequently filed a case in the European Court of Human Rights to impose privacy restrictions on the British press, but the case was dismissed.

hc/xx (AFP, dpa)