AMAZON will be banned from promising "next day delivery" for Prime customers after being rapped over late parcels.

The Advertising Standards Authority will rule next week that the flagship pledge is "misleading" shoppers.

The watchdog received hundreds of complaints from Prime users saying they received "next day" packages up to four days late, The Times reported.

It comes as a blow to the US retail giant — which is already being blasted over its measly tax bill.

Amazon payed just £1.7million in tax on revenue of £2billion in the UK last year.

Claims that it can guarantee next day delivery on some Prime items must be removed from its website after the ruling, which is expected to come next week.

It is the second time the company has fallen foul of ad rules in just six months.

In April the ASA said Amazon listed a series of products in a way that mislead customers over the potential savings they could make.

Prime customers fork out £7.99 a month for a range for benefits including unlimited free next-day deliveries.

But more than 200 complained to the watchdog that their packages "routinely" arrived late.

One Christmas shopper had to wait four days for a "next day" delivery last year.

Joey Hammond, 28, who works as a customer services adviser, told the Sun Online: "I order endless things on Prime. I pay £7.99 a month for the service and I buy things like cat and dog food and clothes, but to be honest eight out of ten times, it doesn't arrive the next day.

"I've emailed them countless times and they reply saying they will give me an extra month free and then the product again or they give me £5 Amazon credit, I must have had hundreds of pounds in compensation and and products. It's definitely not reliable.

"I will get rid of Amazon Prime now, as it's just not worth it."

The ASA will say it has found evidence that a “significant proportion of Prime-labelled items were not available for delivery the next day.

"Because consumers were likely to understand that, so long as they did not order too late, all Prime items would be available for delivery the next day ... we concluded that the ad was misleading".

Amazon insisted that Prime still offered “fantastic benefits”.

A spokesman said: “The expected delivery date is shown before an order is placed and throughout the shopping journey and we work relentlessly to
meet this date.

“A small proportion of orders missed the delivery promise last year during a period of extreme weather that impacted all carriers across the UK.”

Meanwhile Amazon, whose corporation tax bill was £4.6 million last year, could be hit with fresh taxes amid the row over its contributions to Treasury coffers.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said he wants to create a "level playing field" between online retailers and rate-paying high street shops.