JAIL illegal fox hunters, a Labour MP has urged as he warned that trail hunting is being used as a “smokescreen” for the practice.

Camborne and Redruth MP Perran Moon called for a ban on the practice, which involves hunt organisers laying a trail using animal-based scents for hounds.

“It is time to close this loophole once and for all,” Mr Moon told the Commons.

“Banning trail hunting would be a positive step in safeguarding the UK’s wildlife and habitats.

“We need to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004 to make sure it delivers the protection animals need, that means banning trail hunting, removing exemptions that enable illegal hunting, and introducing custodial sentences for those who break the law.”

He added: “We must extend the time available for charge in illegal hunting cases, reverse the burden of proof of compliance with exemptions, and make hunting a notifiable offence (counted in crime statistics).”

Mr Moon said these measures would “make it easier to enforce the law and ensure that those who break it face the consequences.”

Environment Minister Daniel Zeichner said the government would launch a consultation on banning trail hunting later this year, in line with Labour’s 2024 manifesto, but he could not say when a ban would come into effect.

Figures from the League Against Cruel Sports show that from November 2023 to March 2024, there were 526 reports of incidents of suspected illegal hunting, and 870 incidents of “hunt havoc.”

A British Hound Sports Association spokesperson said: “Trail hunting is a legal, ethical and legitimate sport which does not involve the pursuit of any wild animal.

“Publicly available data shows that less than 1 per cent of trail hunts have breached the regulations in the past 20 years.”