Young campaigners from Bite Back have accused the advertising industry of “outright censorship” after JCDecaux and Global blocked their award-winning billboard campaign challenging junk food marketing to children, despite its full regulatory approval and recent national acclaim.

The “#CommercialBreak” campaign was set to run across South London, replacing junk food adverts with the message: “We’ve bought this ad space so the junk food giants couldn’t — we’re giving kids a commercial break.”

The decision by JCDecaux and Global, who together control around 70 percent of the UK’s digital outdoor advertising impressions, effectively shuts Bite Back out of most high-visibility public spaces.