ANIMAL welfare campaigner and Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan has delivered a legal amendment to the government ahead of the conclusion of its consultation on trail hunting, aiming to “stop fox hunting forever.”

Mr Duncan-Jordan has been a leading backbench voice urging the government to deliver its manifesto commitment to strengthen anti-hunting laws, coordinating a letter signed by more than 60 MPs and peers calling for “a meaningful ban on hunting with hounds.”

Rhys Giles, director of The New Hunting Ban, which supports the Bill, said: “For the last 20 years, because of the failures of the Hunting Act 2004, those who seek to exploit, harm and kill British wildlife have been able to get away with it.

“The Hunting Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill lays out a plan to stop them.”

Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “I’m proud of the Bill we’ve put together. If its principles are taken on board by the government, it’s a real chance to put a stop to fox hunting for good.

“It isn’t how you manage predator populations, and it isn’t ‘pest control’. It is the killing of an intelligent animal, ripped apart by dogs for sport.”