ANIMAL protection campaigners staged a protest outside one of the country's last animal circuses.
Around 15 members of Manchester Animal Protection (MAP) handed out leaflets at the Bobby Roberts Circus, near Farnworth, on Wednesday.
It was the first in a series of protests the organisation is staging outside the circus in a bid to stop the use of performing animals.
Louise Stevenson, aged 30, of MAP said: "We are just asking people to consider the treatment of the animals and to boycott circuses with animals. We are protesting about the way the animals are taken from site to site in cramped conditions and forced to perform unusual acts."
But a circus spokesman said their animals were well looked after and enjoyed the tasks they performed.
He said: "The protesters are entitled to their opinion but it's not a traditional circus without animals.
The spokesman said the animals were inspected by the RSPCA and a government vet.
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