YORK could become one of the first cities in the world to ban the food delicacy foie gras, if councillors back a pioneering motion later this week.

City of York councillors will be asked to pass a motion calling on shops and restaurants to stop selling the dish on cruelty grounds.

The motion, tabled by Labour councillor Paul Blanchard, has received international backing from animal rights groups, and Chicago, where its sale is already banned.

Foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened by force-feeding. Protestors claim it is cruel to animals. Its production is already banned in Britain, but there is no law against its sale or consumption.

Coun Blanchard said: "It is a brutal practice, the production of which has rightly been outlawed in Britain. But we are still one of the biggest importers of foie gras from France, and until that stops, the torture of these birds is on all our consciences."

Last year, foie gras was banned in Chicago after a groundbreaking campaign.

Joe Moore, Alderman of the 49th Ward of Chicago, said: "If the City of York Council passes this motion, it will make a profound moral statement against cruelty, and send a powerful message that it upholds the values of a civilised and humane society."

According to Compassion In World Farming, the ducks and geese have a pipe forced down their necks, pumping food into them up to three times a day.

By the time they are slaughtered, their livers will have swollen to about ten times their normal size. They can suffer from internal bleeding and have problems walking and breathing, the charity says.

Marie-Claire Macintosh, of the charity, said: "We applaud the City of York Council in its pioneering efforts to get foie gras banned on cruelty grounds. The method to produce this delicacy' is brutal and inherently cruel and has no place in a civilised society."

Coun Blanchard's motion calls the council to declare "this intolerably cruel and painful practice is unnecessary and should end."

The motion has the backing of other Labour councillors, and York Green Party. It urges the city to "do as much as reasonably possible to discourage or prohibit the sale of foie gras within the authority area".

Coun Blanchard, who wants a free vote on the issue, said: "I have been asked why I am trying to address this issue when we are confronted with so many more pressing issues like crime and transport.

"I also readily accept there is much injustice afflicted upon humans that far outweigh cruelty to animals.

"However, that there are greater wrongs in the world should not require us to turn a blind eye to other cruelties when they are exposed."