Morrissey has donated £10,000 paid by Channel 4 for the unauthorised use of a Smiths song to fund a campaign attacking Fortnum & Mason for selling foie gras.

Channel 4 failed to ask Morrissey's permission to use the Smiths song Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want when promoting the Gordon Ramsay's Christmas Cookalong Live show in 2011.

The broadcaster is understood to have paid £10,000 to Morrissey in recognition of its error, and he has donated the money to the animal rights charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).

Peta is using the £10,000 to buy advertising space for its new campaign criticising Fortnum & Mason.

Morrissey said: "Ramsay may very well stick his head in his microwave when he hears that the money I received from Channel 4 because one of my songs used to promote his Christmas show is being donated to Peta to fight foie gras. Foie gras is so cruelly produced that he'd be against it if he had an ethical bone in his body."

Peta's associate director, Mimi Bekhechi, said: "With this generous gift, Morrissey is literally putting his money where his mouth is and combating cruelty to animals."

Fortnum & Mason has continued to sell foie gras, despite calls from animal rights groups to take the product off the shelves.

A campaign by Peta featuring the former James Bond actor Roger Moore accused the retailer of selling "torture in a tin".

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "In this instance, a small payment was made additionally to our music blanket agreements for this trailer."

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