HOME Secretary Jack Straw has thrown fox hunting a lifeline after he backed Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff's proposals to license the bloodsport rather than ban it.

The bitter debate is set to rage into the New Year after MPs voted by 373 to 158 to give the Hunting Bill its second reading in the Commons.

This means that in the New Year, MPs will be able to vote for a ban on hunting, the Middle Way Group's licensing system for the bloodsport, or the existing self-regulation.

As more than 1,000 pro-hunt campaigners demonstrated outside, Labour MPs Mike Foster (Worcester), David Lock (Wyre Forest) and Jacqui Smith (Redditch) voted to give the Commons this choice.

But Conservative MPs Mr Luff, Sir Michael Spicer (West Worcestershire) and Julie Kirkbride (Bromsgrove), as well as Hereford Liberal Democrat MP Paul Keetch, opposed the legislation.

Mr Luff, co-chairman of the all-party Middle Way Group, did so because he thought voting for a second reading would have been interpreted as backing a complete ban.

He believes the licensing alternative is now firmly on the agenda though he still expects the Commons to vote for a ban.

Mr Foster, whose 1997 Private Member's Bill to outlaw hunting was blocked, was advised by the police not to leave Parliament yesterday afternoon to avoid any confrontation with the pro-hunt protesters.

The vast majority of Labour MPs still intend to back an outright ban in a free vote in the Commons.

But Mr Straw has made the Middle Way Group's option of licensing the bloodsport a credible alternative. It is believed to be supported by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson.

The legislation is likely to be blocked in the Lords at the time of the General Election, expected next May.

Ministers believe the spectacle of unelected peers, many of them Conservatives, defying the will of the Commons will stir apathetic Labour supporters into voting.

Mr Straw is prepared to invoke the Parliament Act to overrule the Lords.

But if Labour's majority in the Commons is cut, then the Middle Way Group's proposals could gain ground.