A YORK student who sparked a furore over plans to drop a mouse 25ft from the university's Central Hall has called off the "experiment" - saying he was going to use a "stunt double" all along.

The Evening Press reported yesterday that Sam Ward, 21, had incurred the wrath of police, the RSPCA, and animal lovers after vowing to prove his theory that the speed the mouse would reach as it fell through the air was low enough for it to survive because of its surface area to weight ratio.

He was due to test his theory at 2pm on Saturday, with the University's Cinematography Society, of which Sam is a member, filming the drop.

The stunt was cancelled last night after York Police threatened Sam with a possible six month prison sentence and £5,000 fine.

The English and philosophy third-year was also forced to reassure the University's academic registrar, Sue Hardman, that he would not make any drop.

Sam today admitted he had always intended to use a "stunt double".

"It would have been cruel to drop a live mouse for my own entertainment," said Sam, who will keep the test mouse,Pebbles, as a pet and sticks by his theory that the mouse would survive.

"The idea genuinely came from a pub argument, but we thought it would be interesting to make a spoof documentary, kind of like Brass Eye, and get people's reactions."

RSPCA spokeswoman Heather Holmes said she was pleased to hear that the mouse would be safe, but was unhappy at their time being wasted.

"We have to take these kinds of things serious and a lot of people were obviously very upset," she said.

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, November 27, 2003