HUNTING supporters lost their second legal challenge to the ban on their sport yesterday at the High Court.

Lord Justice May and Lord Justice Moses dismissed arguments from the Countryside Alliance that the ban breached the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union trading and employment law. They said that the Hunting Act 2004 had “a legitimate aim”. However they gave the alliance leave to appeal. A date is yet to be fixed.

The judges said: “We consider there was sufficient material available for the House of Commons to conclude that hunting with dogs is cruel.” They added that it was “reasonably open to the majority of the Commons to conclude that this measure was necessary”.

A separate case challenging the use of the Parliament Act to impose the ban is with the House of Lords. A decision is expected in September.

John Jackson, chairman of the alliance, was upbeat. “The judges have accepted that there is interference with some of the claimants’ rights, and that the Hunting Act will have a substantial adverse effect on the rural community,” he said.

Anti-hunt campaigners celebrated the result. The League Against Cruel Sports said that foxhunting in Britain was obselete and that hunt supporters should accept the fact.

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