Hertforshire Police said Thursday the coat, worn by Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns on Channel Four television's "Celebrity Big Brother", will now be tested to confirm its origin.

The silicon-enhanced transvestite, famous for his 1985 hit "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", had claimed to other housemates under the 24-hour scrutiny of cameras that the garment was made of fur from the endangered species.

Flamboyant Burns, 46, handed over the coat Wednesday night, police said.

"Hertforshire Constabulary will take positive action to investigate any allegation of criminal activity," the force stressed in a statement.

Britain's Biodiversity Minister Jim Knight last week warned that Burns could be thrown in jail if his claims about the coat were true.

Trading in endangered species carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

Meanwhile, firebrand MP George Galloway could face punishment from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II under an ancient law for entering the "Big Brother House" while the other house -- the House of Commons -- is sitting.

The controversial socialist -- accused by US senators of taking illegal kickbacks from Iraq under the UN's oil for food programme -- has been accused of neglecting his constituents by taking part in the show.

According to the 1382 Summons to Parliament Act, anyone absenting themselves from Parliament can be "amerced" -- arbitrarily punished -- if the monarch decides he has not "reasonably and honestly" excused himself.

Galloway, nicknamed "Gorgeous George" because of his penchant for designer suits and Cuban cigars, has attracted widespread derision for his antics on the show, including impersonating a cat.

Martin Salter, an MP from the governing Labour Party which kicked Galloway out over his views on Iraq, urged the queen to dish out an appropriate punishment.

"In my view Galloway should be sent back to the Big Brother house for the rest of his life with the instruction to perform demeaning impressions of every animal that walks the earth," he said.

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