Morrisons has been caught up in a row over regional prejudices after a casting company asked for actors for a new "Morrisons" advert and specified "nobody from Liverpool please".

Angry customers took to Twitter to accuse the Yorkshire-based supermarket chain of discriminating against people in the North West over the posting by Casting Networks International.

The advert also called for applicants with northern accents, who are "warm and likeable" and said "we don’t want caricatures".

Morrisons denied Casting Networks International looks after its adverts and told The Liverpool Echo that it had not issued any such instructions to its own advertising agency.

A spokesman said: "We certainly have not given this instruction to our advertising agency and we are concerned how this has appeared on a third party casting website. We want to use people from across the UK in our advertising."

The advert has since been withdrawn from Casting Networks International's website and the firm issued a statement denying it had "verified" the ad.

"We are not the authors of these postings, nor are we an agency," CEO Glenn Ward told Buzzfeed. "The unfortunate views expressed in this instance are not what CNI stands for."