Activists should welcome Oxford University's animal research centre because it will improve conditions for creatures used in medical experiments.

Professor John Stein

This is the view of brain specialist Prof John Stein, who said the monkeys used in his studies were already in top surroundings, with air conditioning and television sets.

The new building, on South Parks Road, would allow them to socialise in troops - but the £18m project has been halted after contractors Montpellier and RMC pulled out following pressure from animal rights protesters.

Neurophysiologist Prof Stein said: "The idea is to improve the facilities by centralising them, so the animal laboratories are actually helping improvements to animal welfare. If activists really cared about animals they would support the development.

"At the moment, some university departments are just not big enough to house the monkeys in troops, where they can socialise together."

Prof Stein records his primates' brain activity while they carry out tasks they have been trained to do. Keeping the animals happy and in good conditions is essential to ensure they do what is required during the research.

He said: "We can record from the brain absolutely painlessly. It causes them no pain or stress. Monkeys are keen to do things and are very good at and get excited about playing games. "In our department, the cages are large and they're happy. They bound into the cages because they are so excited about the tasks they are going to do, they watch and talk to each other and they have television.

"They have a life of Riley compared to animals in the wild. Wild rhesus monkeys live to about 12, but some of ours are 25-30. Would you want to spend your days worrying about whether you're about to have your head bitten off by a baboon, or would you prefer watching telly?

"They love watching television, and I have been told they prefer soap operas. I don't know if this is just my colleagues anthropomorphising, but I've seen them spellbound by arguments on soap operas." Prof Stein, whose brother is celebrity chef Rick Stein, said his department's work with monkeys had already had successful results.

He said: "We look at what goes wrong in patients with Parkinson's disease and other disorders. Prof Tipu Aziz has already found a new site in the brain that, when stimulated, alleviates the movement problems that Parkinson's patients have.

"So when the work done with four moneys was transferred to patients, it allowed hundreds of people in wheelchairs to once again have productive working lives. The point is that if monkey experiments can be transferred to curing human diseases, it's absolutely defensible.

"For the sacrifice of a very small number of animals there's a huge benefit to humanity. We all worry about the ethics, but as long as our experiments are done with no pain, they are justifiable."

Prof Stein's comments were rejected by anti-vivisection organisation Speak.

Spokesman Robert Cogswell said: "It's ridiculous to say that keeping animals in cages is better than keeping them in the wild. Twelve years in the wild, living free and jumping from tree to tree seems a lot more pleasurable than spending years in a cage.

"There are apologies for vivisection and making the pill easier to swallow with statements like these. I think we're getting away from the real argument. They haven't got the animals interests at heart -- they have their medical research at heart."