PETA has written to global toy brand, Lego, asking it to rebrand their new farm toy set as an 'animal sanctuary'.

The animal rights activist group are calling for toy farms to be ‘rebranded’ as animal sanctuaries sanctuary – 'where animals are free to live out their lives in peace.'

The group said that the the reality for farmed animals was 'a far cry from Lego’s peaceful, happy scene'. Activists also said the livestock industries were a leading cause of the climate catastrophe.

In a letter to Niels Christiansen, chief executive of the Lego Group, Mimi Bekhechi, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wrote: "Animal farming is a bloody, cruel business and, in 2022, no firm should be promoting it, especially to children." She said pastoral scenes obscured the truth about chickens which were kept in cages, pigs in cramped pens and cows being sent to the abattoir.

Lego did not respond to the letter, however chief executive of the National Beef Association, Neil Shand, said: "This is a misleading message from PETA. We have a responsibility to teach children where their food comes from through farm toys."