Countryside: Anglers back fox-hunting ban

Anti-hunt campaigners were today given a boost by a MORI poll showing 73 per cent of anglers and 68 per cent of riders back a Labour MP Michael Foster's Private Member's Bill to outlaw fox-hunting.

Cindy Milburn, spokeswoman for the Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals said: "This shatters the claim from the pro-hunt lobby that they command the support of those who participate in angling and leisure riding. Anglers and riders are as opposed to hunting with dogs as the rest of the British public." John Kelly, editor of Angling Times, added: " I know from the many letters received by my office that a lot of anglers disagree with hunting and disassociate themselves from it ... Angling is a country pursuit and inevitably there are anglers who also take part in hunting. But this survey suggests these people are very much in the minority."