An advertisement featuring the famous legs of actress Marlene Dietrich was banned in West Germany.

The international symbol for sex and glamour was cast in an ad for the British Overseas Airways Corporation's new VC10 jetliner.

The airline's West German publicity chief said the ad would "only appear over my dead body".

He said 75 of the airline's customers in West Germany were polled. Using her as a poster girl would not convince Germans to fly with the airline, they said.

Ms Dietrich was born in Berlin, Germany, but later became an American citizen. She shot to fame in the 1930 film, The Blue Angel, and is known for being a passionate opponent of Nazism.

In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler asked her to return to star in German movies, but she refused.

After that, all her films were banned in West Germany, where many considered her a traitor.

The screen legend died in 1992 in Paris, France, at the age of 90.