Professor von Hagens created the show to "democratise anatomy"

Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West England, said the two Conservative MPs "haven't seen it so they don't actually know what they're talking about".

"I've been there with my wife and 10-year-old daughter amongst the hundreds of thousands of people in Brussels who went to see it," he told BBC News Online.

"Everyone came away feeling that they had learned a lot about the human body. It is basically an anatomical exhibition."

Some 5% of the Belgian population - 505,000 people - saw it in Brussels, with five-hour queues to get in.

Chris Davies MEP said the show was not gruesome but "very medical"

In it, the corpses are shown with their skin stripped off and a variety of body parts, such as arteries and nerves, on view.

It includes a pregnant woman with her womb opened to reveal a seven-month old foetus and two people riding a horse, also stripped of its skin.

Mr Davies, a member of the European Parliament's public health committee, said it was not gruesome but "very medical" and "the most fascinating anatomical exhibition of all time".

He and his family learned a lot about the body, he said, adding that he hoped that the blackened lungs on show would put his daughter off smoking.

Whatever the sensational elements of the exhibition, it is without doubt hugely educational

Chris Davies MEP

The people who donated their full bodies knew they would be part of the exhibition, while the owners of the individual body parts had donated their bodies to medical science or education.

"If people gave their body for educational purposes, then I think their wishes have been fully respected," Mr Davies said.

"Whatever the sensational elements of the exhibition, it is without doubt hugely educational."

Conservative MPs Sir Teddy Taylor and Anthony Steen had condemned the show as "unacceptable in a civilised society".

The show has already been a hit around the world

"While there may be some merit in looking at a corpse in an Egyptian tomb for historians, I really feel it is appalling to have art galleries used for such things," Sir Teddy said.

"This will appeal only to ghoulish groups in our society."

The government has said organisers may face legal action if it contravenes the 1832 Anatomy Act, which deals with the dissection of human bodies.

The exhibition has been created by Professor Gunther von Hagens, of the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

He has said he wants to "democratise anatomy" and let people see things that only professionals had been able to view before.

The exhibition is due to open at the Atlantis Gallery in Spitalfields, east London on 23 March.