26/12/2011 Look East - East

Hello. Supporters of hunting have been gathering across the region

for their traditional Boxing Day meet. At Fakenham in Norfolk, there

were calls for the ban on hunting with dogs to be repealed. It comes

after the Agriculture Minister and South East Cambridgeshire MP James

Paice said the ban wasn't working. Centuries-old, countryside

tradition? Or outdated cruelty? You might have thought this debate was

over when the ban on hunting with dogs was introduced. Now it is back.

James Paice wants to repeal the ban and has plenty of support. This

Norfolk MP says the ban is not working and a code of conduct

should be introduced instead. is not about a right-wing issue,

not about wealth. It is about a traditional people in the

countryside who love their country sports and hunt and want to be free

to live in the countryside the way we love to. But other MPs from this

region say repealing the ban should be simply out of the question.

hunting is something largely barbaric. What we have is a few

people's pleasure to hunt an animal to exhaustion and then see it torn

to pieces. It is good we can put that in the history books. It has

been described as barbaric and cruel, but those here say the

practice is misunderstood. I do not think it is cruelty, it is politics.

I hunt twice a week or wherever I am on Boxing Day. It is a British

and English edition. Today this hunt was well within the law. It

followed a centred trail. The coalition agreement has promised a

free vote for MPs on this issue. Once again, the tradition of the

hunt is turning into a divisive debate.

Prince Philip missed the Royal Family's annual Boxing Day shoot on

the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk as he faces a fourth night in

hospital. The Duke of Edinburgh is currently in Papworth Hospital near

Cambridge. He's said to be comfortable. He had a stent fitted

after experiencing chest pains. A woman was rescued from a house

fire in Benfleet in Essex after becoming trapped upstairs by the

flames. Three engines were called out on Christmas night to the

property in the High Road. Operators at the Essex Fire Service

control room stayed on the phone, persuading her not to jump out of a

window as crews were on their way. They eventually led the woman down

on a ladder. Bargain hunters have been out in

their thousands at shops across the East today. In Milton Keynes,

people queued from one o'clock this morning for Boxing Day sales. The

main shopping centre there says business have been strong right

through the holiday period. We had 2000 guests waiting around the

stores at 6 o'clock in the morning. 10,000 guests in the first hour.

That is an improvement on last year. We had a very strong last week of

Christmas. A lot of stores went into sale early, with great

23rd December was the biggest trading day so far on record. It

has been a strong Christmas. On to football. Most of our teams

were in action this afternoon. In the Championship, Ipswich drew at

Leicester. Peterborough snatched three points at Nottingham Forest.

In League One, Colchester were at the receiving end of a 6-1

thrashing at home to Stevenage. MK Dons scored an impressive away win

at Leyton Orient. And in League Two, Southend's game against Aldershot

was abandoned at half time due to floodlight failure. Northampton

went down 2-3 against Burton Albion at Sixfields. Norwich host

Tottenham tomorrow evening. Let's take a look at the weather.

Tonight, it will remain mostly cloudy, dry and mild with some

clear intervals. Lowest temperature 8 celsius. Tomorrow, it will