Ramsay tells fans to eat horse meat

Gordon Ramsay will tell the British public to start eating horse meat in a new series of The F Word.

The celebrity chef, notorious for his no-nonsense style, will continue to shock in new episodes due to begin on Tuesday.

In one show Ramsay tells viewers: "I've eaten horse." He continues to hail it as a healthy eat - containing iron and half the fat of beef - which tastes "slightly gamey".

Presenter Janet Street-Porter is dispatched to a horse farm in France on the programme - before visiting Cheltenham racecourse to try and sell the meat, barbecued, to race-goers.

"In a world of mad cows, we should be opening our eyes to new types of red meat," says the host. "Horse meat is a really good source of protein and one we should take seriously."

The idea has already been rejected by some, however. Marcus Wareing, who used to work with Ramsay and is now a chef at top London eaterie Petrus, commented: "I would never eat horse and I certainly wouldn't serve it in my restaurants. It's absolutely unthinkable."

And a spokesman from the Vegetarian Society told the Daily Telegraph: "Most people will find eating horse abhorrent."