Eastleigh MP David Chidgey is agreeing with actress Joanna Lumley that it would be absolutely fabulous to end the export of live animals.

Mr Chidgey met the Ab Fab star in Parliament in support of Compassion in World Farming's (CWF) campaign for meat, not animals, to be exported.

However, the first step in the crusade is to ban live animal export journeys of more than eight hours.

Mr Chidgey said: "This cruel and unnecessary trade results in the needless suffering of animals.

"With some journeys exceeding 80 hours - sometimes without breaks or water - many animals die in agony on route.

"Also, all too often they end their lives in abattoirs where slaughtering is nothing short of barbaric.

"I am joining the CWF in their call for the government to take the lead in the EU in banning the needless suffering of hundreds of thousands of farm animals every year.

"It's time to end this cruel trade once and for all."

The Eastleigh MP said he was appalled to learn from Joanna Lumley that well over 500,000 animals travelled vast distances across Europe from farms to slaughter every year.

He said the journeys often involved sea crossings aboard overcrowded ferries in the worst of weather. Horses, sheep, cows and pigs were exported from the UK, Ireland and Eastern Europe to Italy, Greece and the Middle East on journeys that could exceed 80 hours.

The CWF campaign is seeking to ensure that in the UK slaughter takes place near to the farm where the animals are raised and that similar changes are introduced across the European Union.