CUSTOMERS are talking of launching a petition to save an Olympic sign above a Weymouth butcher's shop.

They stepped in after the Fantastic Sausage Factory was warned to remove its sign - an image of the Olympic rings made up of sausages - because it breached copyright.

Owner Dennis Spurr said: "If I take the sign down it won't make a difference to anybody. It doesn't make people buy anything from me. It makes people smile. So, if anything, I am promoting their event."

The sign has already been up for a year but Mr Spurr said that he had recently been told by the local Olympic committee to remove it.

Now Mr Spurr claimed that some of his customers have said that they may organise a petition to keep it. Mr Spurr said that his sign shouldn't be taken so seriously and that the town's involvement in the games should be promoted more.

"It was only meant as a bit of fun, and if you speak to the visitors to the town many of them don't know that the Olympics are coming. I know it's five years away but we are trying to promote the fact that it's here."

The International Olympic Committee has charged the London Organising Committee for the Olympics with protecting the Olympic rings and terminology.

The aim is to prevent businesses exploiting the Games without authorisation, particularly to protect sponsorship deals.

Andy Cooke, the president of the Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, has confirmed that the town's businesses have been informed that if they try to use the logo they are likely to be asked to remove it.

He said: "I have every sympathy with Dennis Spurr, as his sign is amusing and funny but this isn't a local issue. It's an internationally protected logo, and if anyone tries to use it then this reaction is almost inevitable."

Mr Cooke added that if any businesses that do wish to promote the games, the Team Dorset logo has been designed for that purpose.

A spokesman from London 2012 said that the local Olympic committee had spoken to Mr Spurr about the sign but it had not been officially informed yet.

She added: "The budget of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games is £2bn for the hosting and staging of the Games.

"This money is privately raised by selling sponsorship and official merchandise. The value of the London 2012 brand, the Olympic symbol and the right to associate with the Games is therefore crucial to our funding. To protect our sponsors' huge investment in the Games, and to give them the exclusive association with the Games for which they will pay, we have to prevent other businesses exploiting the Olympic rings and terminology or from creating any unauthorised associations with the Games. Otherwise we will not be able to achieve the funding we need from the private sector."