Simon Cowell has given Britain’s Got Talent’s bizarre animal acts a proper beasting, branding them a “complete disaster”.

The latest series has featured a dancing raccoon and a donkey that paints.

Cowell, 53, said: “There have been some really weird acts this year. Unfortunately the worst have been the animal acts. I thought after Pudsey we’d get some brilliant animals but it has been a complete disaster.”

The music mogul and fellow judges David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon will tomorrow pick the 45 acts for next week’s live semi finals.

Cowell said: “There were a few acts I didn’t think should go through but I got outvoted. So these semis are going to be very interesting.