BURY'S MPs gave their wholehearted support to a ban on hunting with dogs.

David Chaytor and Ivan Lewis voted along with hundreds of their colleagues during last Friday's Commons vote, which saw a huge majority in favour of a ban.

Now they want the Government to allow enough time for the Bill to become law.

The Government has so far refused to guarantee this, but the MPs are confident a ban will be in place within the current Parliament's lifetime.

Mr Chaytor, who represents Bury North, said he was delighted that the vote was so overwhelming.

"The size of vote reflects public opinion in the country as a whole and certainly in Bury North," he said.

"It was an excellent debate with both sides of the argument passionately expressed.

"But the tide is turning relentlessly against hunting with dogs."

Mr Chaytor accepted that there were many other bills, ranging from the minimum wage to standards in schools, that needed to be debated.

But he said there was certainly enough time for the hunting bill to be completed, whether during this session or next year.

And he warned pro-hunting members in the Lords that they would be "signing their own death warrant" by ignoring public opinion. Any blocking tactics would backfire on them, giving the Government good reason to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers.

His Bury South colleague Mr Lewis was equally delighted with the result.

"No-one anticipated more than 400 MPs voting against it, which reflects massive public opposition," he said. "It is only a matter of time before hunting is banned.

"I have never had so many letters, more than 700, on one subject."

However, the vote was not welcomed by the leader of Bury Council's Conservative group.

Coun David Higgin said other issues, like getting more cash for Bury, were more important.

"By nature, I am not in favour of banning things whether it's advertising tobacco or hunting," he said.

"I cannot see a lot of difference between hunting and catching fish by a sharp hook in the mouth. That's certainly no less cruel than chasing foxes with dogs."

Coun Higgin said such bans should not be picked out in isolation, adding: "Once you start going down a road like this, there's no end. I suspect that the Labour leadership have seen this and are concerned about where they do stop."

The Tory leader said Parliament would be better off debating things that improve the quality of life for people.

"That's not to say I am not concerned about animals, but I put people before animals," he said.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.