The Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint about the The Lord of the Dance advert, after hearing that Flatley's input was "artistic" rather than active.

A fan from London - who understood that the Lord of the Dance had retired from jigging - complained about the national press advertisement, saying it implied he would appear in the show.

Advertisers Triple A Entertainments, of Richmond, Surrey, said the image was the logo for the Lord of the Dance, and explained that for legal reasons all Lord of the Dance shows had to be branded by Michael Flatley.

Radio Aire advertised for "Alcohol Abusers"

They believed it was commonly known that Flatley no longer performed in the shows.

But the authority considered that readers who were unaware that Flatley had now retired would think he appeared in the show.

A spokeswoman for the show said: "The posters have been changed to feature the dance line-up rather than the trademark logo.

"Michael Flatley is still heavily involved on an artistic level, but he has always made it clear that he is no longer performing in the show."

The authority also upheld three complaints about a recruitment advertisement in the Guardian for Radio Aire Ltd.

It was headlined "Alcohol Abusers Required" and stated: "The Award Winning Commercial Production department at Radio Aire has a vacancy for an Experienced Creative Copywriter.

Harvey Nichols shoe department was rapped

"The successful applicant must be able to ... drink enormous amounts of coffee (or tea - it's the caffeine intake that counts) ... down copious amounts of alcohol (at a moment's notice, any night of the week) ... openly resort to the use of sarcasm, expletives and/or toilet humour in order to raise a laugh ... laugh (a lot... oh and plenty of experience in the art of writing radio commercials would be good too)."

The objectors, including Alcohol Concern, said it was offensive because it trivialised alcohol abuse.

The advertisers said it was tongue-in-cheek and sarcastic and had generated many responses from young creative people at whom it was targeted.

The authority considered that the advertisement was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and irresponsibly portrayed drinking too much alcohol as admirable.

All 11 complaints about an ad for a new Harvey Nichols shoe department, which appeared in the Evening Standard magazine and Tatler, were upheld.

It showed the lower legs of a woman who had just given birth and was wearing a pair of high-heeled gold sandals.

It read: "A new shoe department is born."