The Labour Party has opted not to use the two adverts which sparked accusations of anti-semitism in the forthcoming general election campaign.

Jewish groups criticised the posters on Tory tax-and-spending plans.

One showed Michael Howard as a hypnotist, which was said to have echoes of racial caricatures such as Shylock or Fagin.

Another depicts Howard and Oliver Letwin, the shadow chancellor, as flying pigs.

The pictures have now been removed from Labour's website.

A senior party figure defended the posters, saying: "They were part of a consultation exercise with party members who have voted overwhelmingly for a different image.

"They have only been reproduced widely in newspapers because right-wing journalists and the Tories have got their knickers in a twist."

However, public relations experts said the party has been given free publicity worth £5 million because of the row.

Mark Borkowski, who runs a public relations company, said: "Any advertising agency will tell you that the trick is to get your brand talked about. This will have got publicity which Labour would have had to pay at least £5 million for in the marketplace."

The Commission for Racial Equality played down the row, saying: "Just as we dismissed any suggestion that Michael Howard’s remarks on immigration and asylum last week could be characterised as racist, we see no evidence that [the designs are] intentionally anti-Semitic."

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown said yesterday that he has ruled out any expensive, headline-grabbing ideas from inclusion in Labour's general election manifesto.

The chancellor told a Treasury conference on volunteering: "In the coming few years our public spending discipline will not waver. We will meet and continue to meet our fiscal rules. There will be no relaxation of that discipline in our election manifesto."