HUNDREDS of fox-hunting supporters from the New Forest were due to march outside the House of Commons today as the Hunting Bill gets its second reading.

A 1,000-strong contingent, including members of the New Forest Hounds armed with banners and placards, will make the journey to the capital in time for this evening's reading.

Defiant Nick Smith, spokesman for the New Forest Hounds, said members and supporters of the 200-year-old hunt would not give up their fight to keep fox-hunting legal.

"We will not give up. The New Forest Hunt is an integral part of the Forest. In fact the Forest was set up as a hunting forest.

"Under the Bill we will have to have a licence and prove that there is no less cruel way of killing foxes.

"The licensing system is a load of rubbish. It's a ban. It's Tony Blair's attack on fox-hunting."

The government is proposing to allow fox-hunting with hounds to continue under licence, but to outlaw stag-hunting and hare-coursing.

Rural affairs minister Alun Michael said that the government hoped that the Commons and Lords would accept its Hunting Bill.

But he indicated that even if Labour MPs spark a new clash with the Lords by amending the Bill to introduce a more widespread ban on hunting than that envisaged by the government, the Bill will be

driven through.

He suggested the government would, if necessary, invoke the Parliament Act - which allows the government to over-ride the Lords' objections.

"It has gone on for years, it has taken up Parliamentary time, there are far more important things to be dealing with than hunting, and therefore we need to bring it to a conclusion," said the minister.

Mr Michael dismissed criticisms of the Bill, arguing that it was based on sound principles.

Anti-blood sports campaigners have warned of a "bureaucratic nightmare" under the government's plans.

John Rolls, spokesman for the Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals and director of communications at the RSPCA, said the cruelty involved in fox-hunting would continue until the issue was sorted out.

The CPHA said it believed more than 90 per cent of hunts could potentially be allowed to carry on if the Bill became law unamended.

The animal welfare group said that while the ban will outlaw 27 hare-coursing clubs and three deer packs, it could, in principle, allow 201 fox hunts, 80 hare hunts and 23 mink hunts to continue under licence.

Mr Rolls said: "Trying to deal with hundreds of hunt licence applications would create a bureaucratic nightmare."