Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has won the RSPCA’s top Honour, the Richard Martin Gold Award.

Mr Oliver, who has campaigned for many years to improve welfare standards for farm animals, was the most high profile winner at this year’s RSPCA Awards.

He said: “Thank you to everyone at the brilliant RSPCA for this incredible award. It truly means a lot, and it’s a great pat on the back for everything me and my team are trying to achieve. Over the years, we’ve been fighting alongside you to make a meaningful difference to animal welfare – from my TV show Jamie’s Fowl Dinners in 2008, to the ‘food fight’ campaigns we run on Friday Night Feast, to making sure we only ever serve higher-welfare meat in Jamie’s Italian restaurants across the world.

“If we all keep fighting, we can make a real difference. There’s a lot still to be done but this award is a massive boost. So thank you.”