Animal rights activists have again targeted The Halfway House pub in Bastonford in protest at its lobster festival.

Last year the pub was daubed with graffiti and this weekend the sign for the festival was slashed in the middle of the night.

Protesters also picketed the pub with signs, loudspeakers and klaxons, opposing the practice of boiling lobsters while they are still alive.

Pub landlord Steve Croft said: "It doesn't bother me too much, as the police have said the protesters don't usually overstep the mark. But my wife wants to install cameras because she's afraid of being petrol-bombed."

The view among some chefs is that to boil lobsters alive is the best way to cook them. Some scientists maintain that they can feel no pain, a view not universally shared.

Julie Roxburgh, from the animal welfare Shellfish Network, said: "There's absolutely no doubt in my mind, and most scientists minds, that boiling lobsters causes them pain.

"Even if there is doubt, they should always come down on the side of the animal."

Mrs Roxburgh said the network was trying to get lobsters included in the Animal Welfare Bill, as currently they have no legal protection.

"You can do anything you like to them," she said. "There's a lot of research which shows they feel pain and stress, as well as pleasure."

A machine is currently being developed which resembles a microwave but works by stunning the lobster, so it feels no pain when cooked.