A Times investigation has revealed some of the UK's top universities are removing books that contain 'challenging' material in order to 'protect' students.

Trigger warnings have also been applied to more than 1,000 texts.

Ten universities have actually withdrawn texts from courses or made them optional, for fear they would cause students harm.

One examples is the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad which Essex University removed completely from courses because it contains descriptions of slavery.

Another example is the classic play Miss Julie which was removed from an English Literature module at Sussex University because it includes discussion of suicide.

The Times sent nearly 300 freedom of information requests to officials across all 140 UK universities asking for details of trigger warnings and of texts that had been removed.

Sir Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Index on Censorship, a campaign group, said withdrawing books to protect students from difficult content was 'fatuous, patronising and profoundly racist.'