A tattoo artist who creates realistic 3D nipples for breast cancer patients says social media giants TikTok delete her videos as they are deemed as "inappropriate."

Lucy Thompson, 34, changes people's lives by covering up the scars left behind by mastectomy surgery as part of her charity the Nipple Innovation Project (NIP).

She says she often posts videos of the tattoos on TikTok, but this has led to her content being deleted repeatedly under claims of "sexually suggestive" content."

Lucy said: "It's absurd, exhausting and quite frankly boring at this point."

"These are not real nipples, but tattoos on reconstructed skin, and it's beyond frustrating to have them constantly flagged as inappropriate."

"We follow TikTok's community guidelines, which supposedly allow post-mastectomy scarring for raising awareness of breast cancer."

"Yet our posts are consistently removed."

Lucy, of Bradford, West Yorks., founded the charity in 2019 and started posting on Facebook to advertise her business.

But after posting a photograph of a 3D nipple tattoo on her page, Lucy claims she was blocked by the social media giant without warning.

Her account was suspended for 30 days after being told that the image breached the company's standards on nudity and sexual activity.

She's now having the same issue with TikTok and has questioned how she's supposed to raise awareness with the restrictions.

Lucy said: "My first ever TikTok account was deleted a few years ago when I spray painted a 5ft nipple mural to raise awareness of our work in a different art form."

She added: "Recently my account has been banned again and it's at the point now where I try not to post nipple tattoos anymore, especially showing the breast shape."

"They gain so much traction when I do post them, but then are ultimately removed. "

"How am I supposed to raise awareness with these restrictions?"

"Even though these images are not in the slightest bit sexualised or offensive, I put so many warnings and notices on the images to prepare people, but they still get flagged."

"TikTok is such a big platform that could really help us raise awareness and help more people, but it feels like we are constantly being punished and I am so tired of it."

A TikTok spokesperson has admitted it was incorrect to remove her account and has since restored it.