Sussex shoppers have been urged to lobby their supermarket to encourage them to improve the welfare of chickens.

The RSPCA’s new Better Chicken campaign calls on retailers to sign-up to a commitment to give chickens better lives and meet consumer demand for higher welfare products.

The commitment calls for chickens to be given more space, light and enrichment, as well as ensuring retailers only use slower-growing breeds.

It comes after a High Court legal challenge over the use of fast-growing breeds of chickens which sadly often suffer from heart defects, lameness and even sudden death.

The charity was deeply disappointed the challenge was dismissed, describing it as a “huge missed opportunity to address the biggest issue for animal welfare in this country”.

The campaign also aims to show the public how their purchasing decisions can make a difference to animal welfare.

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Emily Harris, campaigns manager at the RSPCA, said: “Last week’s ruling shows there is a real disconnect between what the legal system and lawmakers think is acceptable compared to what the public thinks is acceptable when it comes to animal welfare.”

A recent poll by the charity found that 87 per cent of people expect supermarkets to ensure all chicken meat they sell is farmed to high welfare standards, with around 7 in 10 claiming that a supermarket offering higher welfare chicken would have an impact on where they choose to shop.

So far, only Marks and Spencer and Waitrose have committed to the pledge.

Ms Harris said: “The RSPCA works closely with retailers so we wanted to create a helpful guide to make it as easy as possible for them to sign-up to the Better Chicken Commitment and improve animal welfare on a massive scale, meeting the desires of their customers.

“We cannot do that without the people of Sussex’s support, so we’re urging everyone to harness your purchasing power and tell supermarkets directly that we want to see higher welfare chicken on supermarket shelves.

“Over one billion chickens are slaughtered for meat in the UK every year, so improving the lives of chickens will have a huge impact on farm animal welfare in one single stroke.”

People can back the campaign and lobby their supermarket by visiting the RSPCA’s website.