Sydney - Australia's advertising watchdog on Wednesday banned a television commercial promising "longer-lasting sex" because it suggested premature ejaculation was a criminal offence.

The advertisement featured police breaking into a couple's bedroom and cautioning the husband that he risked a fine for short sex sessions.

The actor in a police uniform said: "Excuse me, sir, do you realize how fast you are going in this bed? We are the bedroom police, and we clocked you at one minute, thirty seconds."

The Advertising Standards Bureau ruled the commercial "vilified and shamed" men who could not maintain their erections.

The bureau sided with those who complained that the ad suggested "you are not a real man unless you can last hours and hours and hours having sexual intercourse."

It was placed by the grandly titled Advanced Medical Institute, a Sydney-based company that sells nasal sprays it claims ensure erections.

The company, which last year was forced to take down outdoor advertising that the bureau deemed offensive, is stirring controversy in Britain with hoardings offering longer-lasting sex.(dpa)