A poster for the vegan campaigning group PETA which claimed ‘wool is as cruel as fur’ as part of a bid to shame fashion giants has been banned.

The group drew anger and ridicule with the posters that appeared on buses, which were part of a wider campaign to stop high street stores from using wool in their clothing ranges.

Critics of the claim included the Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool, which pointed out that wool is actually the most ecological and sustainable fibre, particularly when compared to plastic and synthetics used in ‘throwaway fashion’.

Others pointed out that sheep need to be shorn for health reasons, so removing the fleece is actually necessary for welfare reasons.

The campaign by PETA appeared on buses throughout the UK (pictured above) and encouraged people to go 'wool-free'

PETA claimed a victory for its controversial claims when the Boohoo online fashion chain, which is particularly popular with young women and Love Island fans, said it would stop using wool in response to cruelty concerns.

The campaign even included the bizarre demand that the Dorset village of Wool should change its name.

However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled the claim that ‘wool is as cruel as fur’ is simply false and misleading and it has banned PETA from running ads making the claim in future.

The campaign even included the bizarre demand that the Dorset village of Wool (pictured above) should change its name

PETA’s advertisement, seen in February this year, included an image of a woman pulling a jumper up over her face.

It included the text, ‘Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes. Wool is just as cruel as fur. Go wool-free this winter.’

The group told the ASA these claims were justified because, in nature, healthy sheep would lose excess wool ‘naturally’ and the need to shear sheep was the result of the way the animals had been selectively bred to meet a demand for wool.

PETA also provided links to reports from across the world detailing incidences of abuse to sheep carried out by farmers, often during the shearing process.

However, the ASA said the way sheep are raised and treated certainly do not match the conditions of those raised by the fur industry, where animals were often kept in poor conditions and killed for their fur.

The decision will be welcomed by Prince Charles (above) who runs a campaign for the use of wool

The watchdog pointed out that sheep in the UK must be shorn at least once a year under Government animal welfare rules.

As a result, it said: ‘We considered that demonstrated that the main method of obtaining wool from sheep by shearing would not be regarded by consumers as being cruel.’

The ASA said the official code includes specific rules to protect the sheep and therefore: ‘We considered this demonstrated that in the UK, there were standards to prevent cruelty to sheep.’

Significantly, the official watchdog said: ‘Sheep were not killed for their wool as animals were in the fur industry and there were standards in place relating to their general welfare including relating to the shearing process.’

As a result, it has ruled that PETA’s claim was misleading. It added: ‘The ad must not appear in its current form. We told PETA not to use the claim ‘wool is just as cruel as fur’ in future.’

The decision will be welcomed by Prince Charles. In February, Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool, said: ‘Wool should never be banned.

‘PETA are 100 per cent wrong on this issue. Their position opposing the use of wool is absurd and way out of date. Wool is the most ecological and sustainable of fibres and the perfect alternative to plastic and synthetics.

‘All environmentalists would chose wool over oil-based man-made-fibres. The reason the Prince of Wales is so passionate about the use of wool is that it is ecologically more sound than almost any other material.

‘It is reusable and natural as well as making beautiful clothes. It is also a mainstay of our island’s natural industries on a small and large scale.

‘Why on earth would they object to the wool of sheep being used? This is quite literally woolly thinking to an absurd degree.

‘It is painlessly produced by sheep in the wild and is natural and renewable. Across the world 97 per cent of clothes are made from artificial and synthetic material, just three per cent from wool and cotton.

‘PETA is ten years behind the times on this issue and backing the wrong argument.’