A supermarket which boasts of its animal rights record ordered the shooting of pigeons on its property.

Wildlife groups are incensed that the Co-op, which shuns products tested on animals, brought in pest controllers with guns to exterminate a flock of birds.

A number of pigeons were reported inside the warehouse of the Co-op store at the Meridian Centre in Peacehaven, on Wednesday night.

Pest controllers failed to catch the birds and so shot them instead.

A spokesman for the Brighton Animal Rights group, said: "It's a shame the Co-op could not contact one of the many organisations in Sussex to deal with the pigeons they had in their warehouse and decided to execute them."

The Co-op runs television adverts about its ethical trading and has a statement on its business web site, which reads: "The Co-op has had, for many years, one of the most stringent non-animal testing policies of all the grocery retailers covering its own brand non-food products.

"It has built up a wealth of information on the issue of animal welfare, information which we believe should be shared with our customers."

A spokeswoman for the Co-op said: "A small number of pigeons were posing a hygiene risk in the warehouse at our Peacehaven store in the Meridian Centre.

"An approved and licensed pest control company was hired to catch the pigeons but this was unsuccessful and, as health and hygiene considerations are paramount to us, the company had no choice but to kill the pigeons."

It is illegal to kill pigeons if the cull leaves their young unable to fend for themselves as this would constitute unnecessary suffering.

But the spokeswoman said: "These birds were not nesting in our warehouse.

"There are birds nesting outside the centre but there is no need to remove them as they pose no hygiene risk."

Trevor Weeks, of the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS), said: "This is a common problem and we get called frequently to birds trapped in buildings and it's extremely frustrating."

Mr Weeks and WRAS colleagues spent six hours in the Newhaven Sainsbury's trying to free a blackbird last year before it escaped.

He said: "I'm not surprised the Co-op has taken this action. I expect environmental health have said something to them."