British Airways has said that it has stopped serving beef to economy class passengers but denied it did so for fear of offending Hindus.

While beef and pork have "religious restrictions", the reason the airline stopped serving beef in April was that chicken and fish are more popular with consumers, a British Airways spokesman clarified.

In fact, the airline still serves beef to first class and world class passengers, he added.

'We can only serve two options, and beef and pork obviously have religious restrictions. We have to try to use two meals which appeal to as many customers as possible. This summer season we are offering customers in world traveller on most long-haul flights a choice of chicken and tarragon or fish pie,' the spokesman said.

'We also look at trends from major supermarkets to see what types of meals are popular and fish pie style meals are selling well at the moment.

'These two meals proved popular in tasting tests and are also proving popular on board.'

The spokesman added: 'It has nothing to do with the fear of causing offence - we always offer alternative meals for people with special dietary requirements if they order in advance.'

'We are still serving beef based meals on certain menus in first class and club world and are currently deciding on whether or not to use beef on the menus for world traveller customers for the winter season.'

Nevertheless, the Hindu Council UK welcomed the decision, saying it was made "partly because Hindus don't eat beef".

'That said, Hindus are tolerant of the beliefs of others and do not expect everyone to stop eating a food because they do not eat it,' it said.