YouTube has banned a Britain First ad that users were forced to see while searching for news on Brexit and British politics.

People who were looking for videos on the site were forced to look at the ad, which lasted more for than five minutes and gave prominent coverage to the far-right group.

As well as covering the group's members, ideas and featuring clear displays of its logo, the ad linked out to the group's YouTube channel. It showed leader Paul Golding confronting Muslims in Nuneaton.

But the ad has now been removed by the site, after it was reported by The Guardian. The ad was in contravention of rules that ban hate speech and other similar content, YouTube said.

"YouTube does not allow ads or videos that promote hatred, intolerance or discrimination on the platform," a YouTube spokesperson said. "We work hard to remove content that violates our policies quickly, using a combination of human flagging and review and smart detection technology.

11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Show all 11 1 /11 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Play in the background One of the YouTube app’s most frustrating shortcomings is the inability to play music videos in the background or when you’re phone’s locked. There is a way around this, but only on iOS. Open the YouTube website in Safari, play a video and then press your iPhone’s home button. After that, launch the Control Centre by sliding up from the bottom of the screen and tap play. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Loop videos YouTube’s looping option on desktop is really useful, but nowhere near as easy to find as it should be. To loop a video, right-click it while it’s playing and select Loop. Even if you have Autoplay enabled, your video will replay itself as soon as it finishes. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Enable Dark Theme YouTube recently introduced a black-and-red Dark Theme on the desktop, which is much easier on your eyes than the regular version of the site. Enable it by clicking the account symbol, selecting Dark Theme and turning Activate Dark Theme on. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Simplify YouTube Another alternative YouTube user interface is available to access at youtube.com/tv. It’s a really simple, no-frills UI that’s incredibly easy to navigate. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Try out new features You can test upcoming and experimental features early by signing up to YouTube TestTube. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Read When you want to watch a YouTube video but don’t have your headphones and don’t want to disturb anyone around you, turn on Captions. They’re also really handy if you’re trying to watch a video in a foreign language. Transcriptions, meanwhile, break down exactly when certain things take place, so you can skip to the part you want to watch accurately and easily. In the More tab under the video title, launch the dropdown menu and select Transcript. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Use shortcuts You can lean back in your seat and control YouTube videos with your keyboard if you want to. J and L let you rewind and fast-forward 10 seconds, K is pause/play, M is mute/unmute and the 0-9 keys let you jump through various stages of the video, from 0 per cent to 90 per cent. On the app, you can fast forward or rewind 10 seconds by double-tapping the right or left side of a video. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Limit data use If you’re on a limited mobile data plan, there are easy ways to save yourself some money. In Settings on the YouTube app, hit General and enable Limit Mobile Data Usage and disable Autoplay. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Keep things private Unless you make them private, other people can see your Liked videos, your saved playlists and subscriptions. If you want to hide them, go to Settings and Privacy. You can also clear or pause your History. On either desktop or the mobile app, go to History and select Clear All Watch History or Pause Watch History. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Make sharing clearer Sometimes you want to share a video with a friend, but want them to watch a specific part, rather than the whole thing. Instead of sending the timestamp through as a separate message, make the video automatically play from the right place. Just pause it at the right moment, click the Share button, tick the Start At box and copy the URL. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Get nerdy Stats for Nerds shows you technical data for YouTube videos, including video format, audio format and bandwidth. On desktop, you can find the info simply by right-clicking the video player and selecting Stats for Nerds. On mobile, you have to enable it first in General Settings. Once that’s done, open a video, hit the menu button in the top-right corner and tap the Stats for Nerds option.

"We're making progress in our fight to prevent the abuse of our services, including hiring more people and investing in advanced machine learning technology. We know there’s always more to do here and we’re committed to getting better."

A spokesperson for Britain First told The Guardian: “Britain First is at present suing Facebook in Belfast for political discrimination. Once that case is resolved in February, we will launch proceedings against YouTube for their politically motivated censorship.”

Britain First, which grew quickly by using the power of social networking sites, has in recent months been banned from many of them. Last year, Facebook removed the group's page as well as those of its leaders, and similarly said that the accounts were being used to spread "hate".

A spokesperson for Facebook said at the time that it did not remove pages “just because some people don’t like them” and allowed controversial political opinions.

“But political views can and should be expressed without hate,” a statement added.