Police confirmed tonight that Pete Burns, the 1980s pop star locked up in the Big Brother house, was only monkeying around when he told his housemates that his fur coat was made out of gorilla pelt.
Hertfordshire Police officers, following up on complaints from the public, confiscated the fluffy black and white coat in an unlikely raid last night on Elstree studios.
Burns had been warned that he could face up to five years in jail or an unlimited fine for breaching international rules on the trade in endangered species.
But Sergeant Jamie Bartlett, the force’s wildlife officer, told Times Online tonight that Natural History Museum experts had confirmed that the coat was not made of gorilla - although it might be made of the threatened colobus monkey, which it more closely resembles.
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“It’s not gorilla,” Mr Bartlett said. “It’s got nothing to do with Appendix A of Cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).
“Until I know what it is I can’t say if there’s been a more minor offence, but it’s not gorilla, which is the main thing everyone’s been worried about.”
The Dead Or Alive star told his housemates that his coat was made from gorilla when he entered the Big Brother house two weeks ago, provoking a bitter row with the animal-loving topless model Jodie Marsh.
The claim brought a warning from Jim Knight, Biodiversity Minister at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, that Burns could face a prison sentence if he was telling the truth. “Gorilla skins belong on gorillas, not on reality TV show contestants,” the minister said.
It also infuriated animal rights campaigners, who urged their supporters to phone Channel 4’s premium rate eviction line when Burns was nominated for eviction earlier this week. In the event, viewers decided that they preferred to throw out Faria Alam, the former FA secretary.
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It is not the first legal row to hit the show. Earlier this week, the family of a man found dead in Michael Barrymore’s swimming pool five years ago tried unsuccessfully to serve a writ on the entertainer, but were refused access by Big Brother producers.
The animal rights group People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) welcomed the police action. “We have been encouraging our supporters to vote Pete Burns out of the house at every opportunity,” a spokeswoman said.
“Whether it’s a gorilla coat, a mink coat or a fox coat, all animals suffer equally at the hands of the fur trade. When he does leave the house we would like to meet with him and show him footage of how these coats are made. Hopefully we can educate him and persuade him to donate the coat to us.”