THE Prime Minister has given his clearest commitment yet to repealing the ban on hunting and promised a Commons vote within "months".

David Cameron said that while there were "more important things" than hunting for MPs to deal with, he reaffirmed his opposition to a ban that became a totem of the Labour Government's 13 years in power.

In a message to the thousands of hunt supporters across the Westcountry who campaigned for pro-hunt MPs at last May's general election, Mr Cameron pledged that a vote on the issue would happen "in the months to come".

The issue has cooled within Westminster, but pressure is still strong among the grass roots in the countryside for a repeal of the ban, particularly as prosecutions of hunts in the West continue.

Pro-hunt MPs have stopped demanding a vote for repeal, mainly because anti-hunt campaigners have claimed that with the new intake of politicians and a hung parliament, they would win any vote which took place.

Mr Cameron said: "There are more important things for us to deal with but it is important that we keep to that promise.

"Everyone knows that the Hunting Act isn't working, it is a bad piece of legislation and I repeat my commitment that when the vote happens in the months to come, I will be voting for repealing the legislation."