T-Spoon shot straight to the number two slot after 175,000 copies of the single Sex on the Beach were sold in its first week of release.

The single features the lyrics: "I wanna have sex on the beach, come on move your body, sex on the beach, I wanna have sex on the beach" which are repeated throughout the song.

After receiving complaints from offended listeners who heard the lyrics on last Sunday's Radio 1 chart show, the group will not be playing live on Top of the Pops at 7.30pm, widely watched by children.

A spokeswoman for their record company, edel UK Records Ltd, said: "The BBC said the band couldn't play on the earlier show before the watershed, having booked them on Monday to play that very slot."

Instead, Sex on the Beach will be recorded and played on the Top of the Pops show screened on Saturday night.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "The Friday night edition of Top of the Pops is a pre-watershed music show.

"The producer is responsible for the programme contents and has to consider the audience. We are sorry if the decision has upset the band but T-Spoon are still performing on the Saturday night version of Top of the Pops."

Record bosses fear the ban could halt the girls' rise to the top.

"This could stop the band getting to the coveted number one slot this week," said the edel records spokeswoman.

Linda Estelle, 25, T-Spoon's Dutch singer, said: "We are a little bit surprised to find out we have been banned as Sex on the Beach is a cocktail drink and we never meant to offend anybody.

"The record has not been banned in any other country where it's been a hit but we have to respect people's opinions."

T-Spoon is not the first group to cause controversy with the lyrics of a song.