New protests as Selfridges breaks pledge on foie gras

Animal rights campaigners are to resume protesting outside Selfridges after the store failed to honour its pledge to replace foie gras with an ethical alternative.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals stopped campaigning outside the shop's premises in Oxford Street when managers said they would stop selling traditional foie gras, which is produced by force-feeding geese until their livers swell.

But the store's plan to use a product made from the livers of naturally-fattened Spanish geese fell through when an unseasonably hot autumn meant the birds failed to put on weight.

A spokesman for Selfridges said: "We are incredibly disappointed we could not bring this product to market and we remain committed to providing our customers with an alternative.

"Our team is investigating a number of leads to bring a welfare-friendly alternative, sourced in the UK in the next 12 weeks."

But Peta spokesman Bruce Friedrich said the protesters would return this week with renewed vigour, handing out posters and leaflets describing the p‚tÈ as torture in a tin.