While responding to the complaints, the Leeds-based takeaway said all the ads had been removed and would not appear again.

But, it was still available to view on Facebook on Wednesday morning.

Madeleine was almost four when she went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, on Portugal’s Algarve, on 3 May 2007.

Her disappearance bought shockwaves around the world and is still widely known, which the ASA said meant the images used in the ad would be “instantly recognizable to many people”.

Authority said, “We further considered that any reference to a missing child was likely to be distressing and that in the context of an ad promoting a burger company the distress caused was unjustified,”

It remained to say the image of a man running away with a superimposed photo of Madeleine “trivialized the circumstances” around her disappearance and “made light of a distressing news story”.