The animal charity Cat's Protection has said that it is very disappointed that an advert showing a blind footballer kicking a cat is still going to be shown despite over 1,000 complaints.

The advert shows an imaginary football team called 'Blind Wanders FC' playing a game playing football using a ball with a bell inside it (so that they can hear where it is).

Just after the ball is accidentally kicked outside the pitch, a black and white cat with a bell runs on, around the players' legs. 

A player is seen taking a kick and the sound of a cat screaming is heard. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said 1,089 viewers complained about the advert.

220 viewers complained that it was offensive to blind people and 1,070 said that it would encourage people to kick and mistreat animals. 

Maggie Roberts a vet with Cats Protection, said: "We believe there is clearly a risk that some people may find the actions depicted in the advert amusing and it may encourage animal cruelty.

"As the UK's largest cat charity, we witness - on a daily basis - the appalling, tragic and heartbreaking consequences of animal cruelty so we fail to find anything amusing in harming animals, even if it is depicted in a fictional and so-called slapstick manner."

The ASA said: "We considered it was unlikely to be seen by most viewers as malicious or to imply that blind people were likely to cause harm to animals whilst playing football."

What do you think? Should the advert be banned? Should cruelty to animals - even if it is pretend and supposed to be funny - be allowed to be shown in adverts? Let us know by leaving a comment below or voting at our poll at www.firstnews.co.uk/polls.