The Polish parliament has approved a ban on all pornography, both soft and hard-core.

It still has to be approved by President Alexander Kwasniewski but correspondents say that if it is, it would be one of Europe's toughest anti-pornography laws.

The measure was backed by conservatives in the governing Solidarity party but opposed by MPs from parliament's liberal and left wings.

Parliament also set the penalty for rape at two to 15 years imprisonment.

Leading Solidarity politician Stefan Niesiolowski said: "I am very happy. This means that pornography, which is disgusting, demeaning to women, and leads to violence, evil and human suffering, will completely disappear from Polish stores."

Moralists amid the ruling coalition have been eager to respond to Church calls for curbs on pornography in Poland, where it has become freely available in sex shops and kiosks since the fall of communism in 1989.

Opposition MPs condemned the law as illiberal, un-European and likely to lead to ludicrous court cases as judges struggle to define pornography.

"This stems from a national mentality of prohibition. The Bill will limit people's freedom of choice and it betrays a belief that by law the state can determine people's morals and values," said Jozef Oleksy, of the ex-communist opposition.

Solidarity's coalition partner, the Freedom Union, also said that the law would be impossible to enforce because it does not exactly define pornography.

Sex industry figures say the measure will drive pornography underground, creating a criminalised black market.

"Gangster groups will be the ones who benefit most from this law," Krzysztof Garbatowski, a pornographic magazine publisher, told private Radio Zet.