The government has announced it will launch a consultation on the banning of trail hunting later this year.

The news follows a statement in the House of Commons on April 1, by the environment minister Daniel Zeichner who spoke about the scale of suspected illegal hunting and the impact it has on rural communities.

The statement was made during a debate organised by Perran Moon, MP, who called on the government to not only ban trail hunting but to strengthen the Hunting Act by removing the exemptions and introducing jail sentences for those that break the law.

Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “We welcome this significant step towards ending fox hunting by paving the way to removing the excuses being used by hunts to conceal the chasing and killing of animals.

“We look forward to working with the government to help strengthen fox hunting laws in order to end this barbaric activity as soon as possible by closing all the loopholes currently being exploited by hunts.”

Hunt groups invented trail hunting after the fox hunting ban, an activity in which they purport to follow a scent trail laid by a person.

Animal welfare organisations claim that trail hunting is an increasingly discredited excuse used by hunts to conceal their hunting of foxes from the public, police and courts.

Trail hunting has has been described by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the most senior police officer in England with responsibility for fox hunting crime, as a “smokescreen for illegal fox hunting”. He has also described illegal hunting as “prolific”.

Emma added: “These vital animal welfare measures need to be comprehensive and brought in swiftly to end the killing of animals with dogs for fun.”