London local paper the Hackney Gazette has decided not to allow the British National Party to advertise in its pages.

The paper was the focus of much scrutiny after the Hampstead and Highgate Express, which is owned by the same group, Archant, had run an ad from the BNP last week. In a statement, Hackney Gazette editor said: ‘We have concluded that it is not in the best interests of the community to publish the advertisement in the Hackney Gazette. Nor is it right to give the BNP further publicity through a prolonged public debate about the merits of the organisation and its advertising campaign. The balance of arguments in this debate has been extremely difficult but we believe that we have come to the right conclusion.’