Celebrity Big Brother housemate Pete Burns will not be prosecuted over his monkey fur coat, the Crown Prosecution Service said today

Police seized the coat from the house during the show and tests confirmed it was made from the fur of a colobus monkey.

The CPS concluded: "There is no evidence to suggest that this garment was imported illegally and therefore that any offence has been committed."

Dead Or Alive singer Burns sparked a furore in the house when he claimed the coat was made from gorilla fur.

Tests carried out at the National History Museum proved it was made from the skins of black and white colobus monkeys.

It has been illegal to import their fur since 1975 but it is not illegal to own it.

"The CPS has decided that no prosecution should follow in relation to a colobus monkey fur coat taken into the Big Brother house by Pete Burns," the CPS said in a statement.

"This particular coat was deemed by experts to be in a poor condition and has been relined at some time in the past. It contains no labelling and it is not possible to determine where and when it was manufactured.

"It is believed that the pelts used to make the coat were likely to have been imported into the UK in the 1930s or 1940s when such garments were considered fashionable."