Animal activists have blocked the meat aisle of a supermarket in protests of people eating lamb at Easter.

The group of campaigners sat inside the Morrisons on St James’ Street in Kemptown and held satirical newspaper headlines reading “nation of animal lovers eat baby sheep in odd annual eEaster ritual”.

The protest, organised by members of Animal Rebellion, lasted for around an hour on Good Friday with shoppers having to work around the group to find their Easter Sunday roasts.

Richard Michalec, 40, a Brighton-based university lecturer involved in the protest, said: “Easter is a celebration of love and life, and this Easter we are asking this nation of animal lovers to fully embrace these values by supporting a Plant-Based Future.

“Unfortunately, we currently live in contradiction of these values by eating animals, especially at Easter when we celebrate by eating lambs - baby animals that we often take our kids to visit before returning home to serve them up on our plates.

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“A plant-based food system would be a kinder alternative for all life and is an essential part of the loving, thriving, biodiverse future that we all want to see, with sheep farming being a large contributor to environmental damage.”

The Brighton protest was part of a co-ordinated set of demonstrations across the UK including in London, Southampton and Newcastle.

Animal Rebellion say they will be changing their tactics after this week of action with plans to disrupt the Grand National horse racing.

The group is calling on the public and government to support farmers to transition to plant-based food systems in order to free up land currently used for food production.

Morrisons has been approached for comment.