A hard-hitting poster showing a terrified deer plunging into a river to escape a pack of dogs was has been unveiled by anti-hunting campaigners.

The poster is being shown on billboards across Britain in a bid to win support for Labour MP Michael Foster's Private Member's Bill to ban hunting with hounds.

The Worcester MP was at the launch of the poster which shows the deer struggling in the water and proclaims: "It's hard to swim when you've been running for three hours."

The launch was timed to coincide with the results of a poll for the Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals which shows increasing support for a ban.

The Mori poll found 73% now believe hunting should be stopped - a rise of 8% since July.

Mr Foster, whose Bill comes before the Commons later in November, said: "Today's poll shows opposition to hunting at an all-time high. It is time for the British people and our public figures to speak out."

The ban is also being supported by a long list of celebrities, including actor Sir John Gielgud, ex-Take That pop star Mark Owen and EastEnders actress Wendy Richard who plays Pauline in the TV soap.

Campaign spokeswoman Kate Parminter said: "Our poster campaign focuses on the cruelty of hunting with dogs and is a reminder that foxes are not the only victims of this barbaric practice but also deer, as well as hares and mink."

The Mori poll, for which 3,010 adults were interviewed on the telephone between October 17 and 28, also found:

74% do not believe hunting with hounds is necessary to control the number of wild animals.

But the Countryside Alliance, the umbrella group campaigning in support of hunting, insisted the apparent support for a ban did not justify one.

Alliance spokesman Paul Latham said: "This is not about government by opinion poll. There is a duty in a democracy to respect the rights of a minority and people who take part in field sports are a substantial minority, the rural minority."
 

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