AN animal welfare charity that helped get fox hunting banned is calling for tighter regulations on the law’s 20th anniversary. 

The League Against Cruel Sports says the Hunters Act, passed in 2004, is being flouted due to loopholes and the absence of effective deterrents.

It is calling for a ban on trail hunting, which mimics traditional fox hunting, warning it is being used as a “smokescreen” for illegal activities.

Labour’s manifesto pledged to end trail hunting and Environment Secretary Steve Reed has promised to eliminate fox hunting within the party’s first term in office. 

The charity recorded 106 foxes being chased, 127 incidents of suspected illegal cub hunting and 315 incidents of hunts in rural communities during this year’s hunting season. 

Acting chief executive Chris Luffingham said: “We are calling on the government to urgently set out its timetable for banning trail hunting, but also to strengthen the law by removing the loopholes in the Hunting Act and introducing custodial sentences for those caught breaking the law.”