WOMEN from the region arrived in London yesterday to take part in a national vigil against the Hunting Bill.

Isabel Radford, who works with the Catterick Beagle pack, in North Yorkshire, was among the crowds in Parliament Square taking part in the major women's movement.

"I'm here to show support for freedom of choice," she said. "I believe people should be free to partake in hunting if they so wish - it is their choice to make."

Mrs Radford's husband, Major Blair, is at home in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, looking after the beagle pack, which has been hunting for 70 years.

Yesterday, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett appealed to anti-hunting MPs not to wreck the Bill - due to be the subject of a free vote in Parliament today. It would ban hare coursing and stag hunting, but allow fox hunting under strict conditions.

"The Bill as it stands is acknowledged by animal welfare organisations to be the strongest ever put forward," she said.

"No Bill on a simple ban has ever been thought to be workable."

However, former minister and Labour MP Tony Banks has already won the support of more than 140 MPs for an amendment which would outlaw fox hunting altogether.

Eric Beechey, Yorkshire spokesman for the League against Cruel Sports, said the Bill was only "a step in the right direction" and the league wanted an outright ban.