Love Island was called out for portraying offensive cliches in 'fireman challenge'

Research found 15 per cent of women think men are better to be firefighters

Stereotypes of male firefighters as musclebound sex objects are putting women off joining the service, London Fire Brigade has said.

Concerns about gender stereotyping have led the LFB to back proposals by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to ban sexist adverts after shocking findings.

A quarter of women think men are better equipped to be firefighters, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by the mayor of London.

Just seven per cent of women thought the same of police officers when asked: 'Do you think men are more able to do the job, women are more able to do the job, or they are both equally able?'

Stereotypes of male firefighters as sex objects are putting women off joining the service, according to London Fire Brigade

The ITV 2 show Love Island has been called out for portraying the 'offensive cliche' in its 'fireman challenge' claims London Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton.

It saw male contestants strip down and pretend to save a female from danger, in a sexualised portrayal of the profession.

Ms Cotton, the first woman to hold the LFB's most senior position, said: 'I'm especially concerned about how many young people think firefighting is for men.

'When popular shows like Love Island roll out every offensive cliche possible with their so-called 'fireman challenge', it reinforces the misconception that all firefighters are musclebound men. No wonder so many young women are put off by that.'

Ms Cotton, the first woman to hold the LFB's most senior position, said ITV 2's Love Islan portrayed offensive cliches in its 'fireman challenge' this year

Other high-profile examples of sexist stereotypes cited in the brigade's research include a Suzuki advert featuring Ant and Dec which mentioned 'fireman training', and an advert for Harpic toilet cleaner which saw female characters objectifying a male firefighter.

More than 5,000 operational firefighters are in the LFB, yet only 300 of these are women.

Additional research by the LFB among women revealed concerns that the fire service is a 'very masculine environment' and 'a sexist field'.

Ms Cotton urged 'advertisers, journalists and marketers to' stop using 'lazy cliches' as she urged 40 news editors across national and local titles to curb their usage of sexist language.

It saw male contestants strip down and pretend to save a female from danger, in a sexualised portrayal of the profession, claim Ms Cotton

She said: 'It was 30 years ago that people were shocked to see women police officers and it's frankly embarrassing that the public are still shocked to see women firefighters today.

'The armed forces and the police force have all been enriched by having women better represented across their ranks and it's time the fire and rescue service caught up.

The ASA launched a consultation in May which proposed that adverts 'must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence' with results being published later this year.

The consultation followed a report last year from the watchdog which called for stronger regulation of adverts based on 'gender stereotypical roles'.

A spokeswoman for the ASA said: 'We've published evidence that shows gender stereotypes have the potential to cause harm because they limit how people's potential is considered by themselves and others - with costs to the individual, economy and society.

'We've already been taking action to ban adverts which reinforce harmful stereotypes and we'll publish the results of our consultation around new rules for advertisers later this year.'