A Halloween costume inspired by Oscar-winning horror movie The Silence of the Lambs has fallen foul of the U.K.'s advertising watchdog.

A section on fancy dress website Joke.co.uk included a bright orange jump suit with shackles and a restraining face mask, modelled on the outfit worn by psychotic Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the creepy 1991 film.

However, the advert prompted a complaint over a text box describing the clothing as the 'Adult Skitzo Costume', which was deemed by one customer to be offensive as it reinforces negative attitudes about mental illness.

A probe was launched by officials at the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority (Asa), and the website's bosses insisted it was their suppliers in the U.S. who had used the term "skitzo" to describe the outfit.

They also said the clothing was intended as a "lookalike" to The Silence of the Lambs outfit, and pointed out they sold an officially sanctioned Hannibal Lecter costume elsewhere on their website.

However, Asa officials ruled that although "most consumers would view the image of the costume as representative of a familiar film character" the reference to mental illness "was likely to reinforce negative stereotypes" and that the name of the costume was "likely to cause serious or widespread offence".

They ruled the ad was in breach of guidelines and ordered bosses at the website to refrain from running it again.