91Èȱ¬

The 91Èȱ¬ has complained to the Conservatives about a Facebook advert that uses edited footage of its news reporters and presenters.

The 91Èȱ¬ says the material has been taken out of context and its lawyers have asked the party to remove the ad.

The 15-second video was first shown on Thursday afternoon and has so far been seen by more than 100,000 users.

The Conservatives said the footage had "not been edited in a manner that misleads or changes the reporting".

Three clips of 91Èȱ¬ reporters or presenters - political editor Laura Kuenssberg, News at Ten presenter Huw Edwards and political correspondent Jonathan Blake - speaking in recent broadcasts are used to describe the situation in Parliament.

"Pointless delay to Brexit" and "another Brexit delay" are among the lines of 91Èȱ¬ News commentary used.

The clips are edited into a montage of protest footage and video of lively debate in the House of Commons all set to dramatic music.

In a statement, the 91Èȱ¬ said: 'We're aware of Conservative Party Facebook adverts using edited 91Èȱ¬ content.

"This is a completely unacceptable use of 91Èȱ¬ content which distorts our output and which could damage perceptions of our impartiality."

The 91Èȱ¬'s lawyers have written to party chairman James Cleverly asking the party to take down the advert.

, the Conservative Party has spent up to £2,200 on the advert so far, which is being targeted at 35 to 54-year-olds in England.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: "This video uses contemporary news footage to remind voters of the deadlock and delay of the last three years caused by a broken Parliament that did everything it could to block Brexit.

"Viewers can judge for themselves but it is clear the footage was not edited in a manner that misleads or changes the reporting."

The party was also criticised earlier this month when it posted a "doctored" video involving Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, in which he was made to look as if he met a question, posed by ITV's Piers Morgan, with silence when he had answered it straight away.

Mr Cleverly said the video, since taken down, was meant to be "light-hearted". The party later posted an extended version of the interview.

And the Conservatives faced a backlash for rebranding one of their Twitter accounts last week, describing it as a "fact-checking" account during a live TV debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.

Twitter said the party had misled the public and would take "decisive corrective action" if a similar stunt was attempted again.