A new age verification scheme designed to stop young people accessing online adult content has been hit by another delay. 

The scheme had been due to come into effect on July 15, over a year after the original launch window in April 2018. 

The House of Commons passed legislation on the rules last year but implementation has been repeatedly delayed due to lack of consensus on the age verification process.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright admitted in the House of Commons on Thursday that the latest setback was the result of a Government error.

He admitted that an "important notification process was not undertaken for an element of this policy" after the Government failed to report the plans to EU regulators. 

The age checks, once introduced, would be a groundbreaking scheme requiring people in the UK who wish to access adult content to first provide proof of their age. 

It is not clear how the websites will verify the age of UK visitors in practice.  They may require users to upload copies of their passports or driving licenses, or to purchase age verfication cards from newsagents. 

Critics have suggested that the scheme will do little to stop young people from accessing adult content elsewhere, such as through sites located outside the UK or by using a virtual private network (VPN). 

Restrictions also mean that the law does not apply to sites where two-thirds of the content is not adult content in nature, meaning that many social media and image-sharing platforms are beyond its scope.  Non-commercial sites are also not affected by the new law.