Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has declared “Twitter war” on Theresa May after being alerted to the Conservatives' new stance on the ivory trade.

Pietersen is a campaigner for the protection of rhinos in his native South Africa and recently attended a Kickstarter campaign to help raise money for the publication of a book raising awareness on rhino poaching.

Under former Prime Minister David Cameron, the Conservatives’ 2015 manifesto vowed to “press for a total ban on ivory sales”, but there was no mention of it in May’s 2017 version.

This has led to accusations that May has scrapped the Tory pledge.

And Pietersen was alerted to The Independent’s story on this on Monday and tweeted his outrage in response.

“Ummm Theresea May – if this is true, we’re on for Twitter war!” the former England captain said on social media.