An animal rights group has got into trouble after criticising British bangers.

Brighton-based campaign group Viva! published leaflets earlier this year suggesting meat eaters were more likely than vegetarians to die of heart disease, cancer or a stroke.

It pinned most of the blame on sausages.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has now ruled the leaflets were "unduly alarmist" and "likely to cause serious or widespread offence".

The ASA report says: "The advertisers had not supplied adequate evidence to show eating animals caused the listed diseases or that vegetarians were much less likely to develop the listed diseases."

The leaflets showed a picture of a sausage on a fork with the words: "The Great British Banger. Makes your heart go POP.

"One in three men and one in four women will die of heart disease. The British sausage is perfectly designed to help them on their way. (It's the thing meat eaters fear most.)"

The leaflet showed a slaughtered pig lying on the ground with the caption "Sausage, anyone?"

It said: "Eating animals is one of the main reasons why heart disease, clogged arteries, high blood pressure and strokes are at epidemic proportions.

"High fat, high cholesterol, high animal protein foods such as sausages carry much of the blame. They are the worst kind of unhealthy, manufactured meat products good health advice tells us to avoid.

"Vegetarians, on the other hand, are much less likely to develop these killer diseases and face the prospect of living longer than meat eaters."

The ASA report says: "The authority considered the claims exaggerated the likelihood of eating meat in a balanced diet causing the listed diseases."

Tony Wardle, acting director of Viva! in Queen's Square, said: "I think it is outrageous.

"The handling of the complaint has alternated between a farce and a pantomime.

"We supplied them with statistics from lots of organisations, including the World Health Organisation.

"But they don't want to understand the issue because the commercial implications are huge.

"If you eat a tiny bit of meat, your risks are not particularly high. But the more fatty meats you eat, the more you are at risk."

Mr Wardle said Viva! planned to appeal against the ruling.