Celeb chef Brian Turner has been blasted by vegetarian groups - after branding them "sad, confused and sick" for not eating meat. The Ready Steady Cook TV star, who runs a top restaurant in the Midlands, launched the attack while touring the country to judge a nationwide roast beef cooking competition. "I feel genuinely sorry for vegetarians," Turner told the Sunday Mercury. "Stopping yourself from eating a whole spectrum of tastes and flavours just because you have an 'Oh, I won't eat that' attitude is just sad, I'm afraid. "If people are sensible about it I would think most of them would be tempted by the roast beef dishes I've seen on this tour. They are just confused." But his comments drew instant condemnation from two vegetarian groups who said his remarks were "grossly offensive" to the country's estimated three million veggies. The chef runs Brian Turner's, a highly acclaimed restaurant based at the National Exhibition Centre's Crowne Plaza hotel. He also owns a second venue, under the same name, at the Millennium Hotel in posh Mayfair where he is renowned for his devotion to traditional English cooking. Mr Turner is currently travelling through England to find 'the most imaginative and creative' method of serving up roast beef, in a competition organised by the English Beef and Lamb Executive. Fifteen venues, including Leicester, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, are on the tour roster, with three finalists meeting in London on St George's Day to decide a winner. Last week, Mr Turner caused uproar in Liverpool when he claimed that 60 per cent of vegetarians "eat chicken anyway". The Vegetarian Society furiously hit back - telling Mr Turner that he was the one who was confused. But the celebrity chef told the Sunday Mercury that he was unrepentant. "I do feel genuinely sorry for vegetarians," he said. "If it is because of their religion or health problems then I can under-stand their situation. But if they want to take a puritanical view, then they seem to have to pursue it to the last degree. "The world survives, and always has survived, by eating animals. I'm not saying everyone has to eat roast beef every day, but if people are sensible about it I would think most of them would be tempted by the dishes I've seen on this tour. "Vegetarians have the same mentality as people who always go into health shops - and those people always seem to look like the sickest people of all." Last night Ursula Bates, Midland representative of vegetarian animal rights group, VIVA, said: "People like Brian Turner want to get their facts right. "Vegetarians will be grossly offended by what he's said and the true situation is that eating meat is not good for you. "Just look at the diseases associated with consuming meat - increased risk of heart attack, cancer and obesity: the list goes on and on." | 
