IT may be a few weeks off, but September 10 is already looming large in the diary of Peter Luff.

The Mid-Worcestershire MP was already due to be back in Westminster much earlier than his colleagues' return on October 15, to help chair a consultation session on plans to ban hunting with dogs.

A three-day hearing - running from September 9 to 11 - will hear evidence from the three different sides of the argument in a committee room at Portcullis House.

As co-chairman of the Middle Way group - which argues hunting should be allowed to continue under strict licence - he is due to sit on a 10-person panel.

This is made up of three people from the Countryside Alliance (no ban), three from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Animals (ban) and three from the middle way - along with Alun Michael, the minister charged with sorting out the long-running row.

Now, however, an equally hot issue has been landed in his lap at the same time.

He's a member of a delegation from Worcestershire due to meet Local Government Minister Chris Leslie about proposals to change the way cash is allocated to the county's cash-strapped schools.

And, unfortunately for Mr Luff, the only date the Minister has available is September 10.

"It looks like I will be having a very active day," he said.

n Information about the hunting evidence sessions will go on the DEFRA website - www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/hunting/hunting.htm - at the end of next month.