AN animal-loving campaign group has made an inspired request to a county council in a bid to tempt people to try a vegan fry-up.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) asked North Yorkshire County Councillor for the Esk Valley, Helen Swiers, to change the name of North York Moors hamlet Fryup to 'Vegan Fryup' to celebrate World Vegan Day on November 1.

PETA director Mimi Bekhechi said: “World Vegan Day is the perfect time to change Fryup's name from that of a greasy, cholesterol-packed meal to one which reminds people around the county that we all can have delicious, healthy, cruelty-free meals.

“If they agree to adopt this moniker for just one day, we'd be happy to provide Fryup residents with delicious, healthy vegan sausages and bacon.”

She added that plant-based versions of the traditional English fry-up offer all the same flavours while being much healthier and kinder to animals.

Along with beans, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes, Fryup residents can go for faux bacon, veggie sausages, tofu eggs, toast with dairy-free margarine and a piping hot cup of tea made with a splash of soya milk.

The proposal has been met with bemusement from local councillors, who had mixed views on the idea.

Glaisdale Parish Councillor Catherine Hatch said she didn’t know who would be able to make the decision because there is no organisation that represents Fryup alone.

She said: “PETA could probably find a better way of making their point than picking on a farming community in the North York Moors.

“The name Fryup actually comes from the goddess Frige, not a fry-up.”

Scarborough Borough Councillor Herbet Tindall, who was born in Fryup, said the request was one of the most unusual he had ever heard, but that it sounded fun.

He said: “There are quite a lot of different people in the village now, a real mix of farms, small holdings and people who commute out of the village to work.

“I think it would probably go down quite well – it would certainly be a first for my lifetime.”

Fryup is within the civil parish of Danby, alongside Great Fryup Beck in Great Fryup Dale, and probably derives from the Old English reconstruction Frige-hop: Frige was an Anglo-Saxon goddess, and hop denoted a small valley.

Ms Bekhechi added: “If Councillor Swiers takes us up on our offer, which we hope she will, we'd be thrilled to work with her to coordinate a delicious food giveaway.”

Cllr Swiers was not available for comment.

For more information visit PETA.org.uk/vsk.