Protesters in Commons

A group of hunt protesters have broken into the debating chamber of the House of Commons, raising more concerns about security standards. The incident happened as hunt supporters angrily clashed with police outside.

Up to 10 people had burst into a corridor behind the Speakers' chair, with security staff stopping some before they reached the chamber.

Five people managed to confront politicians, Labour MPs shouted: "Get Out" at the men and Deputy Speaker Sylvia Heal immediately ordered suspension of the sitting as doorkeepers tried to wrestle the men to the ground.

Outside the building hunt protesters clashed with police in violent scenes around Parliament Square.

The clashes are believed to have been sparked when the crowd surged towards police lines. Missiles were thrown at the police, who used their batons against the crowd.

Scuffles broke out on the south west corner of Parliament Square at 3.30pm as protesters set off fireworks and lobbed plastic bottles and placards at lines of uniformed police officers, knocking their hats off their heads.

The demonstration compere pleaded for calm saying: "You are doing our cause harm. We have no problem with the police."

But his pleas went unheard beneath the loud whistles and cheers of the crowd.

As part of the crowd turned ugly, firecrackers and smoke bombs were hurled at the police, forcing a line of mounted officers standing in St Margaret's Street to retreat.

Quin Hough, of Lincolnshire, a first-aider with the Countryside Alliance, said he had helped one man with a cut to his head and a woman who had injured her ankle in a scuffle.

He said: "This is exactly what we did not want. These are the sorts of injuries you get when idiots and people start pushing and shoving."

Scotland Yard described the incidents as a 'minor scuffle'

Thousands of pro-hunting demonstrators are gathered in London as MPs prepared to vote on a ban on hunting with hounds.

The protesters, who had promised their angriest demonstration yet, began the day by abandoning four horseboxes in Parliament Square, disrupting rush-hour traffic outside the Commons.

After seven years of Labour promises to ban hunting - and seven years of heated protests by countryside campaigners - the debate was reaching a climax.

The vote itself was on a knife-edge. Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael was hoping a compromise amendment would be enough to prevent rebel anti-hunt backbenchers from scuppering the Bill.

In a major concession, Mr Michael has agreed to defer the ban by 18 months, to 31 July 2006, rather than the 24 months originally proposed.

But hardline rebels said they would accept a delay of a year at the most.

One rebel, Gordon Prentice, said he would be backing a separate amendment tabled by Gerald Kaufman proposing a year's postponement. "I would have thought that if people wanted to support a compromise they would go for one year. Two years is not acceptable for me," he said.

However, government sources said they expected to win the vote which would mean the 2005-06 hunting season will be the last.

If the bill successfully clears the Commons today, it will then pass to the Lords on 12 October.

The Government has made clear it will use the Parliament Act to drive the legislation onto the statute book if the Lords defeat the Bill.

Mr Michael earlier admitted the ban was being delayed purely for political reasons.

Ministers had argued that a twoyear delay was necessary to help the hunting community adjust to the change.

But Mr Michael confirmed the postponement was designed to avoid Labour's general election campaign being disrupted by protests from prohunt supporters. Asked on the Today programme if the delay was linked to the timing of the election, expected May next year, Mr Michael replied: "Yes, and we have been quite explicit about that."

His comments were likely to infuriate the Countryside Alliance, which was expecting up to 10,000 protesters to gather in Parliament Square.

A spokeswoman said: "When the vote takes place there will be a lot of noise. We will make sure they know about the people whose livelihoods they are affecting. People are furious and frightened. It is hard to say how much disruption there will be but it's inevitable that thousands of people are going to take up some space."

The Tories have said they would overturn a ban. Their environment spokesman Tim Yeo said it was "an infringement of civil liberties and damaging to the countryside".

At the weekend, 150 campaigners staged a protest outside Cherie Blair's 50th birthday party at Chequers.