Demonstrators dressed as horses from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Europe dumped a tonne of horse manure outside Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s in London.

It was a protest against the chef’s Channel 4 programme The F-Word tonight in which journalist Janet Street-Porter explores the possibility of eating horse meat.

Janet, who cooks and tastes the meat, is seen offering people samples and asking for opinions.

Anita Singh, of Peta Europe, accused Gordon of mounting a ratings-grabbing "gimmick".

She said: "Ramsay has really landed himself in deep dung with his latest ratings gimmick.

"Will it be a family dog next? Chickens, pigs, cows and horses all suffer fear and discomfort when they are robbed of their lives for nothing more than a fleeting taste or a TV rating."

A statement issued for The F-Word said Janet will be "exploring the viability of sourcing an alternative red meat food source - horse meat - and its relative nutritional merits compared with meat more traditionally favoured".

"Although perfectly legal to eat horse meat in Britain, the usual method of obtaining good quality product is to order from abroad," it added.

"While the item includes a visit to rural France where sales of horse meat are rising, it doesn’t extend to a discussion on animals being transported beyond their country of origin.

"Neither does it seek to suggest anything other than the paramount importance of the ethical welfare of any animals bred for consumption."

Gordon: US Nightmares are worse than UK - May 11 2007
Gordon Ramsay says the Kitchen Nightmares he’s come across in the US are 10 times worse than the UK.

"People open these places as a fantasy. They’re in love with the idea of the owning a place rather than the reality of running one," he says.

In his latest series, he says one disgruntled chef - a wannabe actor - actually came after him one night after filming

"We didn’t know whether he had a knife or something, but I went out to see him," he says. "He went ballistic, grabbed me, threw me against a wall, I threw him against a wall, ouch."

Another place in the Hamptons, the playground of the rich and famous, had to be shut down.

"I leant on the wall but stuck to it because of the grease and grime. That was it, I shut it down," he reveals.

"It was that gross, we had to extend the filming by three days and fumigate the place, get it all cleaned up."

Gordon’s not a veggie-hater - May 10 2007
Gordon Ramsay’s not known for his tolerant attitude about food, but the chef insists vegetarians aren’t on his hit list.

"I don’t have anything against vegetarians," he says. "I just get frustrated with the parents that manipulate their children before they have a choice."

And The F Word star says he’d even support his own kids - as long as they were a bit older and were making the decision for the right reasons.

"If Megan came back and wanted to be a veggie just because her friend at ballet wanted to be one, then that’s not good, it’s for the wrong reasons.

"Meat is packed with protein, and when you’re growing up that’s so important. My view is that people should eat fish at least."

Back in 2005, the chef came under fire for feeding meat to a vegetarian in Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

But there’s still some attitudes to food which annoy him.