Artwork in an Ashford coffee shop will be removed following complaints it depicts ‘sexist’ attitudes.

The large print, which can be seen hanging on the wall in Caffe Nero at the Ashford Designer Outlet, shows three men leaning against a wall staring at a woman as she walks down an alleyway.

The complaint made by an un-named Ashford woman to the coffee house, reads: “Is this really an appropriate image to display which, in my view, promotes sexual discrimination and the sexualisation of women?

“I was extremely shocked to be faced with such blatant ‘leering’ at women that I won’t be drinking in your chain again.”

Now, bosses from the chain say the image will be removed and that they will no longer promote use of the picture in any of their 500 cafes across the country.

Caffe Nero spokeswoman Ceri Aiken said: “We have confirmed that we have stopped actively using this image, meaning it is no longer used in either our new store openings, or existing stores which are given a refresh.

“We are in the process of removing the image from the stores where it is displayed although this will be done as part of our existing estate upgrade and so will take a period of time.

“Rest assured though, we are acting on it.”

“I was extremely shocked to be faced with such blatant ‘leering’ at women that I won’t be drinking in your chain again” - disgruntled customer

The spokeswoman added that, despite the complaint, a lot of customers have voiced their fondness for the picture.

She added: “It is frustrating for us as a business, because we have had more people say please don’t remove it.

“However, we have taken this complaint very seriously and Ashford is top of our priority list.”

No date has been set for the removal of the picture.