THE average person eats more than 900 animals in their lifetime.

But the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease has turned many Bolton people turn away from meat.

Tom Bridge, the BEN's expert chef who has been working non-stop for various vegetarian companies, reports a massive increase in people turning vegetarian. And a national poll of 1,001 adults showed that a further 23pc of people are considering giving up meat.

"People have been sickened by the images of burning cattle," said Tom. "It made them realise what they'd been eating. Before that it was just a piece of steak or a chicken leg, now they associate it with the actual animal." This week is the ninth annual Vegetarian Week -- a week that focuses on health issues, illustrating how meat-free eating can be a healthy way of life.

With three million people in the UK now vegetarian (5.1pc in the North-west) and sales of vegetarian meals reaching £399 million each year, it is hardly surprising to learn that five per cent of British households have at least one completely vegetarian member. 'TV images put me off eating meat for life' MIKE Coulton from Bolton is a recent convert to vegetarianism.

He puts his change in eating habits down to a number of factors -- including world-famous Indian leader Gandhi!

"My wife and I recently split up," says the 39-year-old, "and the only food I knew how to cook was vegetarian, so I basically stopped eating meat at home. If I ate out I would still eat meat and the same applied to eating in the work's canteen or at my mum's.

"Then, back in March, I saw a TV programme on animal rights. I'd been pondering going completely veggie for a while, but the images I saw on screen were enough to put me off eating meat for life."

It was a documentary on Gandhi, however, that really clinched the idea of a meat-free existence for Mike, who lives on St Helens Road.

"Gandhi seemed so 'together' and I agreed with his outlook on life, particularly his beliefs on vegetarianism. I started reading up on him and slowly realised I wanted to give up eating meat. It's been a gradual process, I wanted to do it properly, but I couldn't imagine eating meat ever again."

Mike says he is aiming to become vegan and has omitted milk, cheese and other dairy products from his diet. "It's not the easiest thing to do, but my convictions are strong enough to see it through." Karen was thought a freak in town built on pies! BEN feature writer Karen Stephen has been vegetarian for 20 years.

"I turned vegetarian in 1981," she said. "It happened out of the blue. I was watching a TV programme on farm animals and had become quite attached to one small piglet.

"When the farmer decided to make it into a bacon butty, that was it, I never ate meat again.

"Meat-free food is easy to find now but it was a different story 20 years ago. I was living in London at the time so found it relatively easy to find meat-free meals -- student cafes and Indian restaurants were always good bets.

"But an 'average' restaurant? Forget it. I usually found myself munching through yet another cheese salad while my carnivorous cousins tucked into their flesh or fowl -- with chips.

Pies

Weekend visits to my home town of Wigan were a culinary nightmare. In a town built on pies I was regarded as a freak. My mysterious vegetarian habits were obviously "them London ways" I'd picked up.

Happily it's now a different story. I can eat out at virtually any restaurant I want -- even fast food joints. I can go to a barbie and throw another (meat-free) sausage on it and I can buy as many ready-meals, pre-packed sandwiches and tasty salads as I want.

Vegetarians are no longer regarded as odd and I'm happy to say being veggie is easy these days. My husband is veggie and we are raising our five-month old son to carry on our 'London ways'." GREENS CONVERT: Mike Coulton, a new recruit to meat-free eating who was influenced by the life of Indian leader Gandhi FOLLOWING THE LEADER: Gandhi who personified the vegetarian lifestyle and our reporter Karen Stephen ho says she can get vegetarian food anywhere these days THE average person eats more than 900 animals in their lifetime.

But the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease has made hundreds of Bolton people turn away from meat.

Tom Bridge, the BEN's expert chef who has been working non-stop for various vegetarian companies, reports a massive increase in people turning vegetarian. And a national poll of 1,001 adults showed that a further 23pc of people are considering giving up meat.

"People have been sickened by the images of burning cattle," said Tom. "It made them realise what they'd been eating. Before that it was just a piece of steak or a chicken leg, now they associate it with the actual animal." This week is the ninth annual Vegetarian Week -- a week that focuses on health issues, illustrating how meat-free eating can be a healthy way of life.

With three million people in the UK now vegetarian (5.1pc in the North-west) and sales of vegetarian meals reaching £399 million each year, it is hardly surprising to learn that five per cent of British households have at least one completely vegetarian member.