MANCHESTER MP Keith Bradley today urged peers not to sabotage the latest bid to ban the "barbaric" sport of fox hunting.

As the Hunting Bill faced another hurdle in the Lords, the Withington MP warned that the government may be forced to steamroller it through, using the Parliament Act.

"We are closer than we've ever been to ensuring that we achieve our collective aim to rid our shores of the brutal activity of hunting live quarry for fun," said Mr Bradley.

"I urge peers to finally accept the will of the people and not to hinder the passage of this Bill in to law."

He said that a recent opinion poll suggested that 80 per cent of the British public believe that hunting wild mammals with dogs is cruel.

MPs have voted in favour of banning fox hunting. But the House of Lords, despite losing many of its pro-hunting peers in 1999, when the government axed over 600 hereditaries, is almost certain to overturn the ban during the committee stage of the Bill in October.

Such a move will place peers on a collision course with MPs.

The former Tory Cabinet minister Lord Hurd warned that a ban could lead to hunters holding illegal hunts and taking other forms of civil disobedience. "This Bill for a complete ban goes beyond ordinary politics. I think it will produce great anger and a certain amount of civil disobedience and problems for the police," said Lord Hurd.

The Rural Affairs minister Alun Michael rejected the suggestion that an outright ban would be impossible to police.

But he said it would be for MPs in the Commons, and not for the government, to decide whether to force the Bill through if the House of Lords once more rejected it.

But Mr Michael said they would not allow it to be kicked into the long grass.

"I believe there will be legislation by the next general election, but its form will depend on the way in which the Lords respond and the Commons response to any changes the Lords make," said Mr Michael. Tweet