The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (RLPO) was not misleading in its claim to be the "oldest surviving professional symphony orchestra", it has been ruled.

A complainant to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) challenged whether the orchestra's website claim could be substantiated.

The ASA ruled the orchestra had shown "documentary evidence" to prove the claim.

In 2011, Manchester's Halle Orchestra was forced to drop a similar claim.

After judging it could not substantiate its professional age, the authority ruled the Halle must stop using the tagline of being the country's "longest-established permanent professional" organization.

In the judgment on the RLPO, the ASA said the complainant may have been confused by the orchestra's website, which stated it had been "at the heart of Liverpool's cultural life since 1840", BBC reported.