A BUTCHER has launched a campaign for legislation to force abattoirs to operate CCTV to protect animals' welfare, in the wake of allegations of cruelty at a halal slaughterhouse.

Gareth Dadd, who runs Bell's Butchers, in Middlesbrough, said he had written to Government ministers calling for action after being horrified by film of animals being mistreated at an abattoir at Busby Stoop, near Thirsk.

He said it would also allow solid evidence to be collected if it is suspected animals in abattoirs were facing avoidable pain, excitement or suffering.

Footage recorded by animal rights group Animal Aid showed a worker hacking and sawing at animals’ throats, in contravention of Islamic practice, as well as sheep being kicked in the face and head and hurled into metal walls and taunted by workers at Bowood Yorkshire Lamb.

The Food Standards Agency has launched an investigation into the footage, saying there is “no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video” and said prosecutions could follow.

The campaign, which is being backed by Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Thirsk and Malton, mirrors Animal Aid's e-petition to the Government, which also calls for selected footage from cameras to be independently monitored by welfare experts.

The group's petition has secured 93,274 signatures, 6,726 short of the number required to trigger a House of Commons debate.

The RSPCA has also called for CCTV to be installed in every slaughterhouse.

According to figures from the Food Standards Agency, an average CCTV system would cost about £2,000.

Mr Dadd, who is also a Thirsk councillor said while the abattoir, where one worker has been sacked and three more suspended, had previously installed CCTV, making surveillance mandatory in slaughterhouses would ensure "cowboy operators are exposed".

He said: "The local economy, here in Hambleton and Ryedale and across North Yorkshire in general, is heavily dependant on food production.

"Incidents like those recently reported near Thirsk are not only abhorrent in terms of animal welfare, they also run the risk of damaging the reputation of our excellent local operators."

Mr Hollinrake added the incidents were a disgraceful slant on ethical operators in the area and pledged to lobby for an urgent change in the law if he was elected.

He said: "With the economy of both districts heavily dependant on high standards of food production, a reputation built up over many decades, properly monitored CCTV will minimise the risk of this re-occuring.”