The former The Smiths frontman played a mid-evening slot at the iconic festival four years ago but was left dismayed when a graphic animal rights campaign film, usually shown on his stage backdrop as he sings his track Meat Is Murder, was not broadcast during his set.

Morrissey alleges he was later told that Eavis himself had ordered staff not to show the clip, and now the furious pop star has blasted Eavis for running a dairy farm.

In a statement, he writes, "Should you actually agree to play at the Glastonbury Festival you might find visual arts expert Michael Eavis meddling with your presentations. In 2011 I played Glastonbury and attempted to sing the song Meat is Murder. Behind me, a screen that usually shows the many evils of factory farming remained blank. I was told that Michael Eavis had stopped the screening of the film because it wasn't indicative of how his dairy farm operated. He didn't quite understand that the poor souls in the actual film did not want to be there in the first place.

"Michael Eavis also went on to justify banning the film by saying it would 'upset' younger people. What Michael Eavis was saying, in effect, was: 'It's OK for our belly, but not for our eyes... and at all costs don't educate anyone on animal cruelty because it might damage the financial profits of our happy Glastonbury Farm'.

"If he had thought the film gave an incorrect view of dairy farming, he wouldn't have cared if the film had been shown, but he banned the film because he knew the film was truth. Like most animal haters, Michael appears to be one of those people who love dead animals, yet hate live ones. How is this sane, or logical, or possible?"