Gordon Ramsay has been labelled “offensive” by animal welfare groups after eating the still-beating heart of a snake on television.

The Michelin-starred chef was filmed swallowing the raw cobra organ after watching the struggling creature being slit open at his table in a restaurant.

The scene was recorded in Vietnam, where eating snake is associated with virility and enhanced male sexual performance.

It will be shown on Channel 4 on Monday night as part of his new series Gordon’s Great Escape.

Andrew Tyler, director of charity Animal Aid, said: “Clearly Gordon Ramsay is complicit in an act of cruelty to an animal, something that would be a criminal offence if it happened in Britain. Snakes can feel pain like any other animal and there is no excuse for this.

“His macho posturing, and this disgusting scene in particular, suggests he is insecure in his masculinity.”