British holidaymaker denies feeding seagull ketamine on a chip in viral video

Josh Greenwood has said the video was a "joke"

Holidaymakers allegedly fed ketamine to a seagull (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A British holidaymaker who caused an uproar online by tweeting a video which appeared to show a seagull being fed ketamine in Ibiza has insisted it was a joke.

The video shows a man sprinkling a white powder onto a chip from a resalable bag and tempting a seagull towards it.

Josh Greenwood wrote alongside the video post: “The lads over here in Ibiza have got sally the seagull fucked up of a chip with some KETchup on it!”

He wrote under the footage: “people are messing me saying that the police are coming for me and I'm going to get battered”.

Ketamine is a powerful anaesthetic drug used in operations, but also as a recreational drug. Long-term use can cause serious bladder problems. In theatre, the drug is administered as a liquid, but on the street it’s sold as a grainy, white powered or in tablets.

The video quickly sparked a backlash online, with some warning Greenwood that he’d tarnished his reputation.

Greenwood has since denied that the white substance was Ketamine, and wrote on a Facebook post seen by MailOnline: “My mate put salt on a chip and a seagull ate it while I filmed.

“It's called a joke. I have my mother on Twitter do you think I would publicly post something like that if it was what it's made out to be?

“It's called sarcasm! Making a joke out of it because of people like you overreacting to something that wasn’t even what it was made out to be.”

Greenwood’s solicitor Paul Booth told the Huddersfield Daily Examiner the video: “Salt is put on a chip which it is pretended is a drug and the chip is left for a seagull which takes the chip.

“This was a silly joke by a young man on holiday with his mates, who never intended it to be viewed by anyone outside his circle of friends. No drug was put on the chip, nor was the bird harmed in anyway.”