HERE were celebrations last week from anti-fox hunt groups as MPs voted to abolish the blood sport in England and Wales.

The League Against Cruel Sports welcomed the result of the vote and said it was a major step forward towards ending the "senseless cruelty" of hunting.

And joint master of the Cheshire Forest Hunt, Peter Heaton, said he was not surprised by the Commons' decision.

He said that the House of Lords would oppose the Bill, not just the Tories but across all parties, and hunting with dogs had support from people all across the country.

This would be seen on March 18, he said, when thousands are expected to turn out in London for a march organised by the Countryside Alliance.

"In March 1998 300,000 people marched in one of the largest peacetime demonstrations ever seen," said Mr Heaton.

"It was peaceful with not a single arrest. It was people marching with quiet dignity and great purpose. That will be seen again."

Mr Heaton added that he also believed the government was running scared.

"When people see how much time has been spent in the lifetime of this government on this. There are far more important things to the nation as a whole," he added.

But anti-hunt protesters were celebrating after the vote's crushing majority of 387 to 174 to abolish hunting with dogs in England and Wales.

A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports said: "We believe hunting with dogs is on its final straight. The timing now is the key issue. There has been some confusion about this.

"Obviously there is an election coming up and we would expect a ban to be in place by March 2003.

"We are aware that we have the problem of the House of Lords coming up but we are confident that hunting with dogs will be outlawed."

The debate, last week, followed a day of protest which saw thousands of hunt supporters gather around the country. Many said they were ready to go to jail if Parliament voted to criminalise the activity.

A long and difficult parliamentary battle lies ahead to put the ban on the statute book.

The vote taken last Wednesday was to establish which of the three options on fox hunting to take.

A compromise proposal allowing hunting to continue as a licensed activity supervised by a new regulatory authority was rejected by 382 to 182, and a third option of self-regulation by the hunting fraternity was rejected by 399 votes to 155.

The dramatic Commons decision now sets up a pre-election showdown with the House of Lords where Tory peers have vowed to obstruct the progress of the Hunting Bill.

But there is little prospect of the Bill becoming law before the next General Election.

As the vote was revealed, pro-hunt campaigners, who had been holding a three day vigil outside blew whistles and hunting horns in defiance.

Now the decision has been taken, the bill will go to a standing committee which will go over it in fine detail and take any amendments back to the House.

Any further amendments made by MPs will then be sent back to the standing committee and the final bill is given a third reading for a vote to be taken.

How Your MP voted in the crucial debate

Mike Hall

The Weaver Vale MP voted for a complete ban.

He said: " For the first time we have a real chance of banning fox hunting which I'm really pleased about. Now the decision has been taken, the bill will go to a standing committee which will go over it in fine detail because there are clauses to take out.

"Any further amendments will then be sent back to the standing committee and the final bill is given a third reading for a vote to be taken."

Stephen O'Brien

The MP for Eddisbury voted for a self regulation system.

He said: "The vote in the House of Commons last Wednesday which resulted in a majority for the House to consider an outright ban, goes against a healthy democracy where the apparent majority should not oppress minorities.

"Although I do not myself hunt, that is why I voted against the ban but for self regulation.

"If the hunting with hounds is made criminal and hunters are to be made criminals, this is a serious threat to freedom in this country and further undermines the rural economy which has already been devastatingly damaged by this Labour Government.

"The farmers will be left with enormous costs to dispose of fallen stock, a service which has always been provided by the hunt.

"The fox population will continue to have to be controlled by other methods which are known to be less humane."

Martin Bell

We were unable to speak to the MP for Tatton after the votes but before it was taken Martin Bell said his decision not to vote for total ban had not been an easy one.

"This is obviously an issue in which people's emotions run high," he said

"The bill will be blocked in the House of Lords so this is bound to be an issue for the new prospective canidates in Tatton."