A controversial advert which depicted a cat being kicked into a tree by a blind football player has earned the dubious title of most complained ad of 2010.

Its status was confirmed by the Advertising Standards Authority whose roll call of infamy revealed that the Paddy Power ad had garnered precisely 1,313 complaints – making it the third most complained about British ad of all time.

Despite this the ASA refused to censure the campaign, which it said was “surreal and light-hearted”.

In second place was a campaign for Marie Stopes International which drew the ire of 1,088 people for allegedly promoting abortion, an allegation which the ASA refuted.

One ad in which the ASA upheld complaints made was one by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the ASA agreed with 939 complainants that it exaggerated the likelihood of extreme weather conditions

Some 25,214 complaints were lodged in total over the course of 2010, a 13% decrease on 2009.