When Clifford Sax opened his Boys Toys magazine he thought he had picked up something a bit more saucy than a technology journal.

He was shocked to find a series of adverts so sexually suggestive he found them practically pornographic.

Mr Sax, 38, who lives and works at Portland House Hotel in Regency Square, Brighton, was so offended by the images promoting Club 18-30 holidays he complained to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), the industry's national watchdog.

The three adverts featured photographs of young men and women in "typical Club 18-30 locations" such as a beach, a nightclub and next to a swimming pool.

The ASA agreed that in each picture, the positioning of the models contained sexual innuendo.

One showed a man who had just thrown a beach ball and whose hands appeared to be fondling a woman's bikini-clad breasts.

Another featured a man standing in front of a woman who was holding an overflowing bottle of lager to her lips - with the base of the bottle positioned so it protruded from the man's groin.

Mr Sax said: "When I saw the adverts it was pretty clear what they were symbolising.

"They forced me to think about things that I did not want to think about.

"There is a thin line when it comes to advertising and this time I think the company stepped over it.

"There is absolutely no way you could call me a prude. I am not a Mary Whitehouse type who constantly phones and complains about things.

"But on this occasion I felt I was being manipulated into thinking a certain way. The sexual content and the implications were very clear.

"There was something about these adverts that I found particularly offensive."

However, to Mr Sax's dismay, the ASA turned down his complaint, saying the sexual symbolism used was unlikely to offend readers of the magazine.

He said: "I haven't done anything like this before. I was disappointed when they turned the complaint down."

Mr Sax, 38, showed the adverts to people to get their views on them.

He said: "My partner was disgusted, my sister was disgusted and many friends were disgusted."

He said he had bought the magazine about two or three months ago because of an article about cameras inside but said he would not buy it again.

The advertisers argued that all three adverts were in locations central to the Club 18-30 experience and denied the scenes were pornographic.

They said the magazine's readership was 95 per cent male, mostly single and in their 20s.

The advertisers said the magazine featured adult services and products and any innuendo was drawn by readers' own conclusions.

The ASA ruled the advertisements were not pornographic.