On the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the Hunting Act, Mr Paterson, who represents North Shropshire, said the law was a badly-drawn piece of legislation which he hoped would be lifted in future.

"It's a complete muddle, that has been driven more by class warfare than animal welfare," he said.

"Since the Act came into force, it has been widely documented that there has been a significant increase in the shooting of foxes, which have died in great misery."

He added: "I sat on the committees when the legislation was drawn up, and there was a lot of ignorance about.

"I made a clear commitment to repealing the ban, and I would very much hope and expect that we will do that as soon as we can."