Mastercard and Visa have said that they will no longer allow their credit and debit cards to be used for purchases on Pornhub.

Both payment companies had launched an investigation after a report in The New York Times alleged that many videos posted on the adult website were taken without consent - and some depicted children being sexually assaulted.

Mastercard said its own investigation had confirmed there was illegal content on the platform, adding that other websites are also being scrutinised.

Visa was yet to complete its inquiry, yet said that it too has decided to block transactions.

Pornhub has described their decision as "extremely disappointing" - as it has announced plans to stop images of abuse, non-consensual activity and underage models from appearing on the site earlier this week.

"This news is crushing for the hundreds of thousands of models who rely on our platform for their livelihoods," a statement added.

Figures suggest that the company had more than 42 billion visits to its website last year.

The National Centre on Sexual Exploitation, an organization based in the US, has welcomed the "significant changes" in Visa and Mastercard's policy - and had urged both companies to stop processing payments for Pornhub earlier this year.