Simon Cowell apologises for animal cruelty scenes

Los Angeles - Simon Cowell has pledged to bring the issue of animal cruelty to a "mass audience" following a recent controversy on The X Factor.

Cowell, 54, felt it necessary to apologise last week after it emerged that the ITV spin-off show The Xtra Factor had filmed scenes of contestants attending a dolphin show and swimming with the animals.

The incident led to 7 000 complaints against the airing of the footage and Cowell has vowed to address the issue properly through a new "project".

He tweeted: "I hope to announce a project in the near future which will bring the issues of dolphins and whales in captivity to a mass audience."

Cowell added: "It's something we have been working on for a while."

The music mogul is a long-time supporter of animal rights group PETA and his recent tweets follow an apology he issued last week, which read: "Reading your tweets. I had no idea Xtra Factor producers filmed with dolphins. This will NOT be showed on Saturday. (sic)"

He said: "I think you all know my view on cruelty to animals so thank you all for your concern."