A 15-year-old girl discovered her parents were swingers when she saw footage of them at a sex club on a TV show in Germany.

The teenager got the shock while watching a programme that featured a report on swinging on television channel RTL.

Her mum and dad had apparently agreed to be filmed for the piece because they thought their identities would be disguised.

But the production company forgot to pixelate the couple's faces, reports Munich-based newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

They reacted by seeking damages from RTL for the suffering the family endured after the awkward incident.

However, a judge threw out their compensation claim, as the girl would have had to testify for it to have any chance of being successful, and he did not think that was appropriate.

He told the parents: "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. That's simply embarrassing."

The judge did ask RTL and the production company to pay the couple a small fee for their appearance in the report and to cover their legal expenses.