An exhibition of cartoons including work from various newspapers was removed from display because it is "too political".

The satirical works of fleet St cartoonists were scheduled to go on public view in TownSq Kingston's workspace yesterday evening (Thursday, 1 May) in an exhibition titled Licence to be Offended.

However, the show has was cancelled by the venue, apparently because the cartoons "might offend someone".

TownSq Kingston, which works with the council, had given permission for the space to be used to display missing political images from work from celebrated newspaper cartoonists, including Evening Standard, The Telegraph, New Statesman, Private Eye, Daily Mirror, The Observer, Sunday Times and The Times, Financial Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Economist, and The Spectator.

To the surprise of the organisers, photographer Paul Mowatt and artist Zoe Dorelli, the venue contacted them and ordered them to "take down the show immediately after our private view,"

Then, Dorelli told The Spectator, the private viewing was also cancelled too – just hours before it was to take place yesterday evening.

The exhibition organiser, Whitelight Projects, is now seeking a new venue.

"I think when they saw it, they just thought it would be too offensive to the people working there, and they decided to pull the show," Dorelli told the magazine.

She continued: "The cartoonists are pretty upset about being cancelled. It's not often that they get to have actual exhibitions. They do everything under extraordinary pressure in a very short space of time.

"I just think it's incredible and it requires a lot of respect."

In its news report on the cancellation, Free Speech Union noted the decision to pull the show has revived longstanding concerns among artists and free speech campaigners about the increasing reluctance of public-facing institutions to tolerate satire that risks discomforting viewers, regardless of political alignment.

In a statement, Kingston TownSq said: "Whilst we have not felt the exhibition was offensive, Kingston Riverside is a workspace, and our policy is to remain politically neutral.

"Once we were made aware that the art is not in keeping with a professional workspace, we respectfully asked the artists to remove them after the exhibition. We are still allowing the artists to hold their exhibition at the space for free, but the current art will not remain in place later."

Dorelli said: "Unfortunately, the venue hadn't factored in the fact that all the cartoonists work for national newspapers. It's very unwise to annoy a cartoonist."