CELEBRITY animal rights campaigners today step up their campaign to keep the hunting ban, which the Conservatives have said they will repeal if they win the general election.

Senior politicians from each of the main parties today write exclusively for the Western Morning News, setting out their policy on the fifth anniversary of the legislation coming into force in England and Wales.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said Tory leader David Cameron must "come clean" about his policy to "reintroduce the practice of dogs tearing wild animals to pieces."

However, Mr Benn's Conservative opponent Nick Herbert reiterates his call for a free vote on repealing the law, branding the Act "the most symbolic example of Labour's disregard for rural areas".

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Tim Farron says the law should be repealed, and replaced with a "more comprehensive animal welfare bill" which would allow cases of alleged cruelty to be properly tested in court.

With less than three months to go until the expected general election date of May 6, opponents of hunting have stepped up their campaign to protect the ban.

Sir Paul McCartney heads a list of stars opposing a return to fox hunting with hounds. In a report from Ifaw in Action, part of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the former Beatle and animal welfare campaigner described the ban as an "historic victory for wildlife" that must be preserved.

Sir Paul said: "The scenes described in this report of how animals were hunted down and savaged with dogs for fun before the Hunting Act 2004 was passed are simply barbaric and shocking and should remain a part of Britain's past, not its future."

The report from Ifaw in Action claims there was "overwhelming scientific evidence" that hunting with dogs was cruel and that more than 100 people had been brought to justice for breaking the law.

The No Return to Cruelty report also said a recent Ipsos Mori poll of more than 2,000 adults found that 75 per cent, including seven out of 10 people in the countryside, did not support a repeal of the fox hunting ban.

Meanwhile, the League Against Cruel Sports today launches a film featuring celebrities watching footage of hunts.

Stars include former Doctor Who Colin Baker, One Foot in the Grave actress Annette Crosbie and Time Team presenter Tony Robinson. Naturalist Bill Oddie and ex-Hollyoaks actress Gemma Atkinson also appear.

League chief executive Douglas Batchelor said the reaction of the celebrities is "just hammering another nail into the hunter's coffin". He added: "Their bloodsport is a thing of history just like bear baiting."

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "The Government is satisfied that the Hunting Act is working and is legally sound and has no plans to introduce any changes to the legislation."

According to the Government, the Hunting Act was brought in to end practices the majority of people did not support because they caused unnecessary suffering.

Ministers believe the Act is legally sound and the police have made it clear they would enforce it.