Anti-hunting campaigners have backed calls for the government to make a manifesto pledge to ban hunting with dogs.

Organisers of government business have already said that there is no time for the bill to return to the Commons despite the delaying of the general election.

The Lords have yet to go through the legislation line-by-line and the delay will be increased by the two week Easter recess.

Any government business that is resurrected will be prioritised in order of importance with Home Office business getting ministerial preference since it will be centre stage during the election campaign.

Former sports minister Tony Banks called for the manifesto commitment on Tuesday after accusing the government of deceiving voters into believing that a ban would be introduced during its first term in office.

Banks said on Tuesday: "We gave an indication that we would affect a ban in this parliament. Therefore we would not have actually done what we led people to believe we were going to do, so it must be in the manifesto."

He said that 167 Labour MPs would make personal pledges to ban hunting in their election literature.

Mike Gapes, who is a member of the Labour Party's national policy committee, gave his backing to a manifesto commitment on hunting.

"Ideally, I would have been in favour of the bill being brought back because it offers a chance to show that the democratic chamber is sovereign. As it looks like there isn't time for the Bill then the government should give a manifesto commitment to bring it back," said Gapes.

A spokesman for the Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals told ePolitix.com that the government had no excuses.

"An overwhelming majority of MPs have voted to ban hunting with dogs and most people agree with them. A recent poll showed that two thirds of people thought the Lords should accept the will of the House of Commons. The CPHA believes there should be a clear commitment in the manifesto to reintroduce the Bill after the general election if it runs out of time," she said.