TV presenter Chris Packham and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas have stepped down from their roles as president and vice-president of the RSPCA following allegations of animal cruelty at the charity’s approved abattoirs.

Mr Packham said on social media it was with “enormous sadness” he resigned from his position at the animal rights charity.

Ms Lucas echoed his comments, saying she left a role of more than 15 years with “huge sadness” but the charity’s Assured Schemes risked “legitimising cruelty”.

RSPCA Assured is a scheme whereby approved farms must comply with the organisation’s “stringent higher welfare standards”, according to its website.

But an investigation by campaign group Animal Rising published last week alleged cruelty at “RSPCA Assured” slaughterhouses in England and Scotland, with the campaign group sharing footage of alleged mistreatment.

The RSPCA said it was “taking strong steps to improve oversight of welfare”, including exploring the introduction of new technology.

Mr Packham shared the news of his resignation on social media, saying: “It is with enormous sadness that I have resigned from my role as president of the RSPCA.

“I would like to register my respect and admiration for all the staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to protect animals from cruelty.”

Ms Lucas said on X she and Mr Packham failed to get the charity’s leadership to act.

She posted: “With huge sadness I’m resigning as VP of the RSPCA, a role I’ve held with pride for over 15 years.

“But their Assured Schemes risk misleading the public and legitimising cruelty.

“I tried with Chris Packham to persuade the leadership to act but sadly failed.”

Animal Rising’s latest investigation follows on previous claims of animal cruelty made in May, when they published a report containing findings from investigations on 45 farms across the UK featuring chickens, pigs, salmon and trout.

At the time, RSPCA responded by saying the charity had launched “an immediate, urgent investigation” after receiving the footage.

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In the wake of Mr Packham and Ms Lucas’ resignations, an RSPCA spokesperson said it is “simply not true” that the organisation has failed to take urgent action.

They said: “We agree with Chris and Caroline on so many issues and have achieved so much together for animals, but we differ on how best to address the incredibly complex and difficult issue of farmed animal welfare.

“We have discussed our work to drive up farmed animal welfare standards openly at length with them on many occasions and it is simply not true that we have not taken urgent action.

“We took allegations of poor welfare incredibly seriously, launching an independent review of 200 farms which concluded that it was ‘operating effectively’ to improve animal welfare.

“We are taking strong steps to improve oversight of welfare, implementing the recommendations in full including significantly increasing unannounced visits, and exploring technology such as body-worn cameras and CCTV, supported by £2 million of investment.”

Oleksandr Usyk has beaten Tyson Fury in their rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian Usyk, 37, who had entered the bout as a narrow favourite, retained his WBO, WBC and WBA heavyweight titles with his win at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena.

British fighter Fury, 36, had hoped to take revenge after his previous defeat to Usyk in May.

But, the fight went to the scorecards with all three judges scoring the fight 116-112 in Usyk’s favour.

Usyk became the only man to inflict a professional defeat on Fury when he beat him on points, becoming the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and the first undisputed champion in 24 years.

But his reign over the four belts was over just a month later when he gave up his IBF belt to fight Fury in a rematch because he was unable to make a mandatory defence against the organisation’s interim belt-holder, Daniel Dubois.

Dubois, 27, defended the belt with a fifth-round knockout of fellow British rival 34-year-old Anthony Joshua in October.

He faces Joseph Parker on February 22 and the Usyk win could set up a future fight to unify all of the titles.

Ahead of the bout, Usyk and Fury engaged in a stare-down for more than 11 minutes in a head-to-head press conference on Thursday.

Fury weighed in at a career-high 20stones 1lbs, while Usyk weighed 16stones 2lb, the heaviest he has recorded, although both men were fully clothed when they stepped on the scales.

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A 77-year-old Just Stop Oil protester has been recalled to prison after she was unable to be fitted with an electronic tag.

Gaie Delap was sentenced to 20 months in prison in August for being part of a group that blocked the M25 in November 2022.

The grandmother, from Bristol, was released early on 18 November on a home detention curfew – but the Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS) was unable to attach an electronic tag to her ankle due to a health condition.

They tried to fit the device onto one of her wrists, but they proved too small.

As a result, on 5 December an arrest warrant was put out, and she was recalled to prison, according to Just Stop Oil (JSO).

Her friends and family said in a statement that they were “outraged” by the decision,which they described as “cruel and totally unnecessary”.

They say Delap was “fully compliant with the terms of her release” and was in hospital when the warrant was issued.

“We know there are alternatives to the tag,” the statement read. “We know that if she had been a man, a tag would have been available to EMS.

“Because of medical conditions, Gaie requires a wrist tag or some equivalent. And we know from our own investigations and enquiries there are many out there.”

Her relatives added that Delap is “absolutely no threat to the community” and her recall will “waste” £12,000 in taxpayer money.

“We cannot believe that there is not an electronic monitoring device that can be fitted at a fraction of the cost,” they said.

“We want common sense to prevail.”

‘Significant mistreatment in prison’

JSO says Delap suffered a stroke in the run-up to her trial and continues to suffer from various medical issues.

It claims she “experienced significant mistreatment in prison, suffering wrist problems after being handcuffed to a bed in hospital”.

She “experienced significant mistreatment in prison, suffering wrist problems after being handcuffed to a bed in hospital” and the warrant for her arrest was reportedly issued whilst she was receiving treatment in hospital.

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JSO’s statement read: “Gaie took action in 2022 after the government announced that it would issue over 100 new oil and gas licences.

“This was despite summer temperatures climbing above 40C (104F), railways buckling in the heat, harvests being decimated, and the London Fire Brigade experiencing the most calls since WWII. There were 61,000 excess deaths from the heat in Europe that year.

“Gaie took this brave action out of a deep sense of duty to protect her children, grandchildren and indeed all of us.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We have a duty to enforce sentences passed down by the independent judiciary.

“The law states anyone released under home detention curfew must be tagged and recalled if no alternative solution is available.”