The National Trust has been criticised for allowing Channel 4 to use an Oxfordshire landmark to promote a TV programme.

The Big Brother logo on a field behind the White Horse at Uffington, which was quickly removed

A team from Channel 4 spent several hours on Thursday daubing a giant eye -- the logo of the channel's Big Brother series -- on a field behind the White Horse at Uffington.

Footage to market the next series was then filmed before the logo was removed the following day.

The National Trust, which owns the site, received £2,000 from Channel 4.

But an Oxford archeologist condemned the publicity stunt as cheap and tasteless.

Alan Hardy, senior project manager for Oxford Archaeology, said: "If you'd asked them to spray-paint something on Westminster Abbey they would probably say that would be offensive.

"To a lot of people, the White Horse is a near-sacred site."

The White Horse warden for the National Trust, Dawn Cunningham-Clayton, said tests had been carried out to make sure the logo could be easily removed.

Alan McLaughlin, for Channel 4, said: "We have great respect for the site, and were sensitive to its cultural value."

Last summer, the 3,000 year-old Bronze Age hill chalk carving was defaced, with a hunting image, by pro-hunting campaigners.