Fifty "Ken Clarkes" gathered in London, wearing face masks of the British American Tobacco deputy chairman.

They demanded the company closes the factory it jointly owns with Burma's military dictatorship.

They chanted in Burmese outside the BAT headquarters and carried placards shaped as speech bubbles quoting a letter from former Chancellor Ken Clarke to a constituent in Rushcliffe, Notts, in which he admitted feeling uncomfortable about in-vestment in the country.

John Jackson, director of Burma Campaign UK, which organised the protest said: "BAT is collaborating with a military dictatorship. It is funding a regime that rapes, murders and tortures its own people."

A BAT spokeswoman said: "We understand and greatly respect concerns about human rights.

"We do not believe the best way forward is for businesses to withdraw from countries whose governments' human rights record have been criticised.

"Campaigners may suggest business can influence how countries are governed. While we are willing to discuss these issues with stakeholders, we do not believe businesses should take on the role of international diplomacy and companies do not and should not have a mandate to step into areas of political authority."