FACEBOOK has banned controversial group Britain First and its leaders from their site.

The social media giant released a statement stating it had removed the group's main page, as well as the pages of Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen, with immediate effect after they violated community standards.

A statement said: "Content posted on the Britain First Facebook Page and the Pages of party leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen has repeatedly broken our Community Standards.

Glasgow Times: Paul Golding, left, arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London with Britain First's Jayda Fransen

Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen of Britain First

"We recently gave the administrators of the Pages a written final warning, and they have continued to post content that violates our Community Standards.

"As a result, in accordance with our policies, we have now removed the official Britain First Facebook Page and the Pages of the two leaders with immediate effect.

"We do not do this lightly, but they have repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups, which disqualifies the Pages from our service."

Last month both the leader and deputy leader were jailed after being found guilty of religiously aggravated hatred.

Read more: Britain First leaders convicted of religiously aggravated harassment

The main page had more than two million followers, while both leaders also had large personal followings.

When questioned by MPs at the end of last year, Facebook policy head Simon Milner told the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that Facebook was “reviewing” the group’s page after other social networks such as Twitter and YouTube suspended group accounts.

In response to questions over why the group had remained on the site, Mr Milner said Britain First had until recently been registered with the Electoral Commission and therefore “deemed legitimate” by the authorities, but there were “clearly issues” with the page.

He added the site was “very cautious” about political speech, and in Facebook’s statement on the page removal, the company reiterated its stance.

Read more: Britain First supporters launch tirade after leaders jailed

“We are an open platform for all ideas and political speech goes to the heart of free expression. But political views can and should be expressed without hate,” the social network said.

“People can express robust and controversial opinions without needing to denigrate others on the basis of who they are.”

Following its suspension from Twitter in December, Mr Golding said the group was looking for new social networks to join and urged supporters to follow.

Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons that she welcomed Facebook’s decision, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also praised the move.