POTATO GROWERS want to bury the term “couch potato”, because they say it is derogatory to the noble tuber.

A spokeswoman for the British Potato Council is reported as saying that it made the vegetable seem unhealthy and damaged its image.

Protesters gathered outside the Houses of Parliament on Monday, June 20, to make their point.

At the same time, another group of demonstrators massed outside the offices of the Oxford English Dictionary, hoping to force editors to drop the phrase.

They want “couch potato”, originally American slang for idle and sofa-bound, to be changed in favour of “couch slouch”.