Censor allows more explicit sex videos

Makers of sex videos will be allowed to show more explicit scenes than ever before under new rules published by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) yesterday.

Makers of sex videos will be allowed to show more explicit scenes than ever before under new rules published by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) yesterday.

The changes, which respond to a court ruling against the board, have made masturbation and close-up shots of penetration and ejaculation acceptable for Restricted 18 videos.

The High Court, in a judgment delivered earlier in the year, overruled the board's decision to refuse to grant certificates to seven sex films. They included Horny Catbabe, Office Tart and Nympho Nurse Nancy, which have since been given certificates allowing them to be sold only in licensed sex shops. The films' distributors, Prime Time Promotions (Shifnal) Ltd and Sheptonhurst Ltd, had taken the issue to the Video Appeals Committee. The VAC ruled in favour of the firms but the BBFC took the issue to judicial review in April.

The film classification board has drawn up its rules around the scenes deemed acceptable by the courts. A spokeswoman said: "We've taken them up to the point that will allow what was in the seven videos. We've constructed the guidelines around that because legally that's what we had to do."

The guidelines, which are designed to allow only consensual sex to be shown, now spell out clearly what can and cannot be shown on the videos.