Animal lovers and pig farmers, staging separate demonstrations outside Parliament, are at loggerheads over the use of a pig as a mascot.

The animal welfare campaigners - visiting Westminster to demonstrate against live exports - thought they had scored a victory on Saturday when they saved a sow's bacon.

Cherie the pig was being held in a pen as part of a vigil by the National Pig Association to draw attention to the state of their industry.

New life for sow

But animal lover Julia Fletcher spotted the porker in the midst of London traffic and resolved to rescue her.

Ms Fletcher offered to buy Cherie from the farmer and paid £50 to secure the sow's freedom.

The pig, now renamed Petal, was taken to an animal sanctuary in Norfolk to begin a new life.

But Ms Fletcher, of Maida Vale, central London, was later perturbed to learn that the National Pig Association simply intended to replace the protest pig with another one on Monday.

She said: "I'm devastated. I paid £50 to save that piggy because it was not right to have her sat there next to six lanes of traffic.

"If farmers insist on demonstrating with their animals it will make them more unpopular than they are now.

"People will be outraged. I am going to ring 'round my list of animal organisations to see if we can arrange to go down and protest," she added.

Pig 'not upset'

But David Graham, who is organising the Westminster protest for the National Pig Association, said he disputed there was any hardship suffered by the pig.

"The sow did an hour's journey to London and did not seem at all upset by it." he said.

"She seemed quite contented. The point of having the sow there is that unless we do something rapidly there are an awful lot of sows going to be slaughtered because of the crisis in the pig industry."

Mr Graham said he would not back down despite the request from Ms Fletcher to keep the new pig out of London.

He said: "It is a very moot point but if they wish to argue it they are welcome to come down to Westminster Square on Monday and talk about it.

"We are trying to save the pig industry."

The farmers are planning another publicity stunt on Monday when they will dispose of the pig's manure by carting it up Whitehall in a wheelbarrow to deliver to Downing Street - for the use of the Prime Minister's gardeners, said Mr Graham.