The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) said it will review the findings of the Video Appeals Committee, which has given Rockstar Games' Manhunt 2 leave to appeal against its ban.

David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said he would carefully study the judgement by the panel when it becomes available.

"The BBFC exercises great vigilance and care in ensuring that all violent games that are submitted to us are correctly classified," he said.

"Our decisions are based on published guidelines, which are the result of very wide public consultation."

The Video Appeals Committee is an independent body set up under the Video Recordings Act to hear appeals against any BBFC classification decision that a submitting company claims is too strict.

Cooke said the BBFC had last rejected the game by a vote of four to three.

"The BBFC twice rejected Manhunt 2 for its focus on varied and cumulative killings," he said.

"We recognise that rejection is a very serious step, in which the desire of publishers to market their games, and that of gamers to buy them, must be balanced against the public interest."

Cooke said the decision had included the full range of possible risks to vulnerable individuals and to any children who may be wrongly exposed to such games.

"Such balancing judgements are inevitably complex and multi-faceted, and are made only after very careful consideration of the contents of a work," he said.

"We played Manhunt 2 for well over 30 hours prior to our decision."

Cooke said the BBFC believed that a broad approach to the possible risks was needed, which "goes beyond purely behavioural harm, and which also takes account of other possible effects on the sensibilities and attitudes of individuals."