A BED & BREAKFAST owner said yesterday that he would rather go to jail than comply with a proposed law forcing him to allow gay couples to share a double bed on his premises.

Tom Forrest, whose refusal to let a gay couple from London share a double bedroom sparked uproar last year, said he would "stick to his guns" even if it meant a prison term.

Speaking after an amendment was tabled to the Government's Equality Bill that will allow it to outlaw discrimination on sexual grounds in providing goods and services, Mr Forrest said that he would continue to stand up for his "principles".

He told The Times: "I will not condone the homosexuals. It is against the laws of nature and it is a filthy and disgusting habit. I would class it along with bestiality, paedophilia or necrophilia and you can quote me on that.

"I have never gone against the laws of the land apart from the odd speeding fine but on this I'm afraid that my principles and beliefs are going to take precedence. I don't mind going to jail if it comes to that. I will take it as far as I can."

Mr Forrest, 58, whose three-bedroom Cromasaig B&B near the shores of Loch Maree in northwest Scotland boasts on its website about its "Highland hospitality", prompted a review of the proposed Equality Bill after denying a double bedroom to Stephen Nock, a gay charity worker from London, and his partner.

The Bill was originally intended to make it illegal for religious groups only to be turned away by the goods or service sector. But the Government has come under mounting pressure to extend the law to include hoteliers and others in the hospitality trade. The new law is expected to take effect from the middle of next year.

Mr Forrest's guest house was struck off a list of recommended places to stay by VisitScotland, the Scottish tourist authority, after he refused Mr Nock and his partner a double bed last June and referred to them as "sexual deviants". He said that "two gents" could only stay under his roof in a twin bedroom.

When Mr Nock accused Mr Forrest of homophobia, the B&B owner denied that he was a bigot and insisted that he was acting out of respect for other guests. He said: "I have no hatred or fear of poofs, etc - I just do not approve of unnatural acts being performed in my home."

Mr Forrest, who says that he has received dozens of abusive letters and e-mails from "poof organisations", claimed yesterday that he had received several death threats over the past few weeks that were now being investigated by police.

"I've reported the e-mails to police, who say they are looking into them," he said. "One of the interesting points is that we have actually received in excess of 500 letters and 5,000 e-mails of support."

The Cromasaig B&B website now carries a warning message, underlined and in red, which reads simply: "We will only allow heterosexual couples and singles occupation of our double bedded rooms."

Mr Forrest said that he should be entitled to refuse anybody that he wishes, and that the new legislation would completely ignore his "freedom of choice and human rights".

"I've sat round the table with homosexual people and discussed this with them, and strangely enough they respect that," he said. "I have no problem with homosexual people at all apart from the fact that I will not allow them to share a double bedroom under my roof. What they do elsewhere is entirely up to them. I respect their privacy and they should respect mine."

A spokesman for Stonewall, the gay rights group, said that it was Mr Forrest's choice whether to obey the law. "The law will be clear that he can't discriminate against lesbian and gay people," the spokesman said. "If he does, he will be prosecuted in exactly the same way as somebody refusing service on racial grounds."