British MPs have voted overwhelmingly for a ban on fox hunting to move closer towards ending the countryside sport.
The vote last night, by 362 to 154, came after the government dramatically withdrew a compromise plan that would have allowed some forms of fox-hunting, which has been practised in Britain for more than 300 years, to continue.
The bill now passes to the upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, where it is likely to face stiff opposition. It would have had an easier passage through the Lords if the government's compromise had been approved.
The vote for a total ban represents another parliamentary blow to the Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair and suggests his Labour Party backbenchers are developing a growing taste for rebellion.
Mr Blair, under pressure from party activists over his motives for waging war with Iraq, might face trouble as he seeks to push through other bills that do not have full party support.
It is also a blow to the country's vocal pro-hunting lobby, who have staged a series of protests in recent years to publicise their cause. Last year they rode on horseback through central London in full hunting regalia.
Opponents of the sport say it is cruel, barbaric and completely out of place in a modern society. But supporters - including royal heir Prince Charles - say hunting is a service to farmers who regard foxes as vermin, and that it maintains thousands of rural jobs.
The government's compromise solution involved issuing strict licences to allow some hunts to continue. Ministers had said that was the only realistic way of banning most hunts. But many Labour members of parliament took a harder line and accused the government of trying to stifle their views.