Vegan billboards: Middlesbrough man funds signs

Tony Galuidi says there is no need for animals to die so we can eat

A vegan has spent hundred of pounds of his own money on giant billboard messages in Middlesbrough, urging people to think about the way they eat.

Tony Galuidi "felt compelled" to act after a survey showed the town was one of the areas in the UK most lacking in vegan restaurants, cafes, and shops.

He spent £600 on a sign which went up for a fortnight over the summer above one of the town's traffic hotspots.

A GoFundMe appeal has now paid for a second, and a third one is due.

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Mr Galuidi, who runs a community theatre company, believes the cost to the planet of rearing animals for meat is too high.

The pro vegan billboards are situated in traffic hotspots around the town

He believes that an increase in meat substitutes also meant there was less need for animals to die to provide food.

Speaking of the campaign, he said: "The whole idea behind it is not to lecture people, or show people slaughter houses.

"I want them to think about animals, about what happens to food before it reaches their plate, and think 'is there a better way of eating that doesn't involve harming animals?'."