Company is 'taking vengeance on ferrets'

When the once-exclusive Burberry check was adopted as the chav fashion accessory of choice, company insiders feared its image had hit rock bottom. That was until they discovered their famous check was being turned into hats, bandannas and coats for ferrets.

The dumbing down of their brand had gone too far. FerretWorld in Dudley, West Midlands, was threatened with court action for infringing Burberry's copyright and told to withdraw all clothes featuring the check.

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The pet shop has now accused the Bond Street brand of "taking vengeance on ferrets".

The furore began when Simon Bishop, the owner of FerretWorld, bought some material which was similar to the Burberry check and turned it into jackets, hats and bandannas for ferrets.

He charged £2.99 for a bandanna, £3.25 for a cap and £5.99 for a coat and began advertising his wares on the pet shop's website as "in the style of Burberry," along with the established range of ferret football kits.

But within days, he had received a letter from the company's legal department saying he had breached its intellectual property. It said: "Your use of a check identical or confusingly similar to the Burberry check in relation to similar goods for which the Burberry check is registered infringes Burberry's registered trade mark."

Mr Bishop was told to withdraw the range within a week, sign an agreement promising not to sell the goods and to hand over a list of his customers.

Burberry has been through a turbulent time in the past month, sacking Kate Moss as its "face" amid allegations that the supermodel takes cocaine.

Mr Bishop said: "Obviously still smarting from the loss of Kate Moss, they are taking their vengeance out on ferrets."

A spokesman declined to comment on the case but said the company took counterfeiting seriously.