Short-term lender Wonga has swapped its controversial puppets for "hard-working dinner ladies and mums" as it bids to reinvent itself with new adverts.

The lender, which recently announced a pre-tax loss of £37.3m in 2014, said the new ads would steer clear of the young and vulnerable. But it admitted there would be no watershed for TV adverts, which will run during ad breaks of popular soaps. The payday lender's website has also been overhauled. Applicants applying for short-term loans on the site would see clearer affordability warnings, details of costs if repayments were missed, more prominent links to debt charities, and a new logo, the company said. Wonga's adverts featuring puppets were cut in July last year, with the company saying it did not want to be associated with "anything which inadvertently attracts children".It is returning with new TV and digital adverts, starting on Tuesday, featuring farmers to dental nurses, who it believes are among a broader group of target customers. The average customer for a Wonga loan at present is male and aged between 20 and 35. "It is clear that the puppets were inappropriate," said Tara Kneafsey, UK chief executive of Wonga. Wonga has had to apologise and compensate customers for the use of letters from fake legal firms, as well as write off unsuitable loans. Ms Kneafsey said the new adverts did not contain a further apology, as they aimed to show how the company had moved on........Read more here