The death-knell was sounded on fox-hunting when the government announced it will make time for a ban on fox-hunting.

Margaret Beckett, the "anti-hunt" minister responsible for the bill, is expected to steer the legislation through the Commons where an outright ban is expected to receive the backing of an overwhelming majority of MPs.

It is still not certain whether the legislation will be introduced as a government or private member's bill.

When a similar bill was debated in parliament during the last session MPs supported an outright ban on hunting by a large majority.

Despite claims that senior ministers, including Tony Blair, have now cooled on a total ban anti-hunt campaigners still expect the House of Commons to vote to end fox-hunting.

However, the House of Lords is again expected to frustrate the bill and could scupper its chances of becoming law for a second time.

Should the Lords reject the Commons' view, ministers have not ruled out invoking the Parliament Act to push the measure through parliament.