Protest at Ramsgate port over ship being turned back in high winds. Picture: Mike Pett

A move to turn back a ship bound for Ramsgate loaded with sheep in gale force winds has been dubbed 'barbaric'.

RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant hit out at the practice of allowing animals to be at sea on open decks in extreme weather conditions.

It coems after the Jolene, loaded with two lorries containing hundreds of sheep sailed from Ramsgate yesterday morning.

As conditions worsened in the Channel, the Jolene was turned around and began sailing back - arriving at the port at 4.30pm.

A brief inspection by Animal Health ended in the lorries being unloaded and the sheep being taken away - as shipping forecasts warned of force 10 gales.

Speaking after the incident, RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant said: "It is barbaric that animals are at sea on open decks in these appalling weather conditions. This ship is designed to work in rivers, not in the open sea.

"Today's crossing amounts to torture of these animals."

He said the charity would be lodging a complaint with the appropriate authorities, calling for a full investigation into why the ship was allowed to sail.

Protesters claimed the ship was, in fact, a flat-bottom ex-Soviet vessel used for transporting military tanks.