A businessman is suing the estate of the late diet guru Dr Robert Atkins claiming that the popular eating plan clogged his arteries and left him needing surgery.

Jody Gorran claimed in a lawsuit that his cholesterol level rocketed after going on the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet.

After following the plan for two years, the 53-year-old from Florida, needed surgery to open a clogged artery, he said.

Atkins Nutritionals hit back at the lawsuit saying that science "has repeatedly reaffirmed the safety and health benefits of Atkins".

It claimed that the suit was a publicity stunt because Mr Gorran was backed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which promotes a vegan diet.

Under the Atkins plan, dieters are able to eat meat and other proteins but have to avoid carbohydrates. Critics claim that a diet rich in red meat can cause cholesterol levels to soar.

Mr Gorran, a wealthy owner of a solar panels company, claimed that his cholesterol shot from 146, within the normal range, to a dangerous 230 while he was on the diet.

In October 2003, after suffering chest pains, doctors found that one of his major arteries was almost totally blocked, the lawsuit said.

Surgeons performed an angioplasty and inserted a stent to keep the artery open. Mr Gorran claims that before he went on the diet tests had shown that his arteries were clear.

He is seeking over £15,000 and an injunction on Atkins Nutritionals promoting the diet. Mr Gorran was not immediately available for comment.

But he told the New York Times: "I contend there ought to be a warning on this diet.

"I'm seeking an injunction to prevent them from selling their products, books, or having their web site without a warning."

He admitted that he was seeking publicity: "The whole thing is based on getting the word out.

"Even if the suit never gets anywhere, we'll be out there and people will start to think," he said.

Atkins Nutritionals said in a statement that the Physicians Committee for Responsible Nutrition was "a well-known vegan and animal rights group, (which) has a long history of initiating these kinds of scare tactics that are designed to convince the American public to stop eating animal protein of any sort".