Foie gras protests in UK

Fortnum & Mason now has celebrities Joanna Lumley, Ricky Gervais, Bill Oddie and Sir Roger Moore backing a campaign calling for the emporium to remove the product from its shelves.

Organised by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), it is the latest in a long line of big-name food stores in England to come under pressure for selling foie gras.

Selfridges, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Lidl, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols have all refused to sell the livers, which are produced by force-feeding geese and ducks using metal tubes.

Fortnum & Mason released a statement to Peta saying it was looking to amend its corporate social responsibility statement, which states that the company sells meat produced to "the highest welfare standards."

Peta has asked the Prince of Wales to strip the store of its royal warrant, but he has so far refused to get involved. The prince has, however, made his position on foie gras very clear in the past, banning it from being served at his own table and threatening to review the royal warrant for his local delicatessen because it sold foie gras.

According to polls, two-thirds of people in the UK oppose the sale of foie gras.