THE owners of a circus visiting Oxford this week said members of the public would vote with their feet after a row erupted over the appearance of an elephant in its show.

Bobby Roberts Circus, which is in Oxford until Sunday, features Anne, a 54-year-old elephant, although all she does is pose for photographs.

However, her presence has upset the Captive Animals' Protection Society, which has urged people to boycott the show, at the Oxford Stadium.

Oxford City Council has a long-standing ban on circuses which have animal acts using council land, such as Oxpens Meadow or South Park.

But the ban does not affect the Roberts' circus because the stadium is privately owned.

Caps spokesman Craig Redmond said: "Caps is not opposed to circuses, only to the use of animals.

"We would encourage people to avoid those circuses that still use animals.

"There are many excellent circuses that rely entirely on human skills and we would encourage the public and landowners to support these instead.

"In the 21st century there can be no excuse for continuing to allow the treatment of animals in this way."

Mr Redmond claimed Anne, who was brought from Sri Lanka when she was five years old, had been deprived of elephant company since 2002 and was the only elephant to be used in a British circus.

According to the Roberts family, which uses horses, ponies and dogs as part of its show, Anne recently received a clean bill of health from animal welfare inspectors.

Moira Roberts, the wife of circus founder Bobby, described the campaign encouraging people to boycott the show as "vindictive".

She added: "People will show their support for us by voting with their feet and coming to see us.

"We allow Anne to come into the ring at the interval and we do charge for her photograph to be taken, but that only goes a tiny way to paying for her upkeep.

"No matter how much it costs, she will always be made comfortable.

She is part and parcel of our family."

Mrs Roberts added: "She couldn't go to a sanctuary.

"To put her with strange elephants would kill her - she's used to human contact.

"Ticket sales are good and Oxford is a new venue for us.

"People are looking for live entertainment and this is an art form - like the theatre. Our artists are very dedicated."