Fish and chips have no plaice on our national menu, said vegetarians.

Britain's favourite dish got a major battering from the organisation Peta - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- when campaigners sailed into Southend.

The protesters landed at the pier with a six-foot cod called Gill to tell daytrippers it was cruel and unhealthy to eat fish.

They handed out leaflets to onlookers, describing the suffering when fish got caught.

These explained how huge trawling nets also dragged in unintentional victims like dolphins, birds and turtles. Gill held a notice between her fins with the appeal: "Don't Batter Me."

Spokeswoman Toni Vernelli said: "Fish are animals too with complex nervous systems. Eating fish is also bad for you. They live in the ocean that we pollute, so the toxins are absorbed into their fat which we then eat.

"Lots of fish and chip shops are now offering vegetarian options, like veggie burgers and falafel."

Toni was delighted that the first passer by who stopped to investigate the presence of a huge fish out of water turned out to be a keen vegetarian. However, Dorothy Barrett, of Broad Walk, Hockley, on her way to a fish and chip lunch, was not so easily persuaded.

She said: "Fish is good for you. Let me put it this way. I'm 70 now and I came through the war when meat wasn't available so we ate a lot of fish. As a result, I've got good teeth."

No plaice for fish - Dorothy Barrett meets the fish on the pier

Picture: ANDY PALMER

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.