Sir Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson are celebrating after finally winning their long-running campaign to free an abused elephant from captivity in India.

The Beatles legend and the former Baywatch beauty joined forces to back a drive by officials at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) to release Sunder from seven years of misery at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra.

In 2012, MCCartney wrote to Indian government officials, urging them to step in and end the beast's suffering, but despite promises Sunder would be rehoused at a nature reserve, the process of moving the elephant has dragged on ever since.

Now judges at the Supreme Court of India have ordered the implementation of a Bombay High Court order to release Sunder to an elephant care centre in Bangalore by 15 June (14).

A Peta spokeswoman says, "Despite every obstacle thrown in his path, this abused young elephant will now be on his way to safety. Sunder has known only cruelty, misery and neglect. By upholding the Bombay High Court order, India's Supreme Court has made clear that cruelty to elephants, even in the name of religion, will no longer be tolerated. We are grateful to the Indian judiciary for giving Sunder the opportunity to be rescued."