Monkeys and ring-tailed lemurs are among primates being flogged to the public in high street pet stores, an animal welfare charity has claimed. 

A Born Free Foundation investigation found one shop that kept monkeys in parrot cages — and advised prospective owners to do the same at home. 

The shop also recommended the monkey should have a “spare bedroom or garage” to roam around in the day time. 

A government spokesman said: “Primates are wild animals with complex needs and it is already against the law to keep them in a domestic pet environment.”

But the foundation said the government wasn’t doing enough to close loopholes that allow their sale.