The vice-chairman of the RSPCA has been forced to step down after calling for animal rights protesters to shut down Britain’s top meat market.

Vegan Jane Tredgett, 52, is a co-founder of Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of the Extinction Rebellion environmental movement.

The group says animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change and insists veganism is the best way to save the planet.

Mrs Tredgett, who has been on the RSPCA’s ruling council for 18 years, quit her unpaid post after it emerged she is among those organising the two-week protest aimed at closing down Smithfield market in central London next month.

Vegan Jane Tredgett, 52, is a co-founder of Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of the Extinction Rebellion environmental movement. She quit her unpaid post after it emerged she is among those organising the two-week protest aimed at closing down Smithfield market in central London next month

Animal Rebellion hopes that 10,000 animal rights campaigners will attend the protest at Smithfield market (pictured) and 'engage in civil resistance to communicate the urgency to end the industries of animal agriculture and fishing'

Animal Rebellion hopes 10,000 animal rights campaigners will attend.

A spokesman said: ‘We need to urgently end the industries of animal farming and fishing, and transition to a plant-based food system in order to avert climate breakdown, mass extinction and ensure justice for farmed animals.’

The group invites supporters to ‘engage in civil resistance to communicate the urgency to end the industries of animal agriculture and fishing.’

Mrs Tredgett, who works in executive training, is in charge of instructing protesters in ‘non-violent direct action’ [NVDA] that will reduce the risk of them being arrested.

A statement from her on social media last month said: ‘I have been asked to co-ordinate the roll-out of NVDA training and am hoping to recruit 150 trainers to help.’

It is signed on behalf of ‘the voiceless creatures we love so much’. Mrs Tredgett, from Hull, has since held a number of training events in the north of England, including a two-hour session in her home city attended by 250 activists.

She has played a prominent role in Animal Rebellion since early July. The pressure group has likened its efforts to shut down meat, dairy and fishing operations to the struggles of US civil rights hero Martin Luther King and the Suffragettes.

It claims the industries are playing a ‘catastrophic role in the climate emergency’ and says the Government should encourage Britons to phase out meat, dairy and fish from their diets and move to a ‘plant-based food system’.

Mrs Tredgett, who works in executive training, is in charge of instructing protesters in ‘non-violent direct action’ [NVDA] that will reduce the risk of them being arrested

Animal Rebellion is a separate organisation from Extinction Rebellion, which will hold protests across cities at the same time as the Smithfield demonstration, but it has signed up to several of its key demands.

These include making the UK ‘carbon neutral’ by 2025 and creating a ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to decide environmental policy.

At the time Mrs Tredgett decided to take a leading role in Animal Rebellion she was the second-most senior member of the RSPCA Council – an elected group of trustees in charge of the charity’s policy and strategy as well as allocation of its £130million-a-year budget.

Critics have previously claimed the committee is dominated by animal rights extremists, but the charity, which has 1,750 employees, has denied this.

Until this month Mrs Tredgett was also a director of the RSPCA’s ‘Freedom Foods’ offshoot, which certifies animals have been ‘ethically’ farmed.

A statement from her on social media last month said: ‘I have been asked to co-ordinate the roll-out of NVDA training and am hoping to recruit 150 trainers to help’

The RSPCA has strongly denied that Mrs Tredgett holds extremist views. But it announced her departure yesterday after the Daily Mail asked how she squared her roles at the charity with her decision to stage ‘direct action’ protests.

The RSPCA stressed in a statement that she was due to retire from the council later this year.

It said: ‘Jane was due to leave the national council next month as part of wide-ranging reforms to RSPCA governance to refresh and widen representation.

‘She was aware that getting involved with this activity in her private capacity is a divergence from RSPCA policies and offered earlier this month to step down from the council on September 30 before the event takes place, which has been accepted.’

Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance, said of the move: ‘The RSPCA has finally admitted what it has denied for decades that there are extremists in controlling positions within the organisation.’

Mrs Tredgett was unavailable for comment.