Mid Sussex MP Nicholas Soames has made his presence felt in the Westminster committee discussing plans to severely restrict hunting.

Clashing with anti-hunt Labour MP Candy Atherton, he produced one of his trademark withering put-downs.

Turning to the shapely Ms Atherton, who attended Midhurst Grammar School, he said she was "luckier than she looks".

The comment comes hot on the heels of claims Tory MP Mr Soames, a passionate supporter of hunting, hurled abuse at MP Yvette Cooper.

Labour MPs claimed he shouted at the elfin junior minister in the Lord Chancellor's Department: "Boy. Boy.

"Sit down boy. Sit down boy."

But Mr Soames denied being involved in the House of Commons exchange, stating it was a case of "mistaken identity".

Mr Soames's attack on Ms Atherton came after she interrupted him during a meeting of the Hunting Bill Committee.

He urged Labour members trying to ban the pursuit to listen closely to his remarks, as he believed they had never "been hunting, or seen a hunt."

Ms Atherton intervened to say she came from a rural area and that she had watched hunts on "several occasions."

He replied: "The honourable Lady is certainly luckier than she looks."

Mr Soames is fighting the Government's plans to ban hare coursing and stag hunting, with hunting with dogs only allowed with special licences."