Animal rights campaigners have converged on Holyrood to call for a total ban on fox hunting in Scotland.

A march was held in Edinburgh city centre on Saturday morning to urge the Scottish Government to strengthen the law.

Fox hunting with dogs was banned in Scotland through the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act in 2002, with an exemption for using dogs to flush out foxes for pest control or protecting livestock or ground-nesting birds.

Mounted hunts in Scotland have since offered farmers, landowners and estate managers a pest control service, but a review by Lord Bonomy found there were "grounds to suspect" fox hunting takes place illegally.

The League Against Cruel Sports, OneKind and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) have been campaigning for the legislation to be improved to close "loopholes" that allow for traditional hunting.

Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, said: "Public support to really ban hunting in Scotland is overwhelming, with the vast majority completely opposed to the outdated, primitive cruelty of this so-called sport.

"Action is urgently needed to improve the law so we can consign hunting into the history books once and for all."

The Scottish Government is expected to publish its report on the consultation this spring with any proposals for legislative reform to follow before the summer recess.

A spokesman said: "We are committed to ensuring the highest welfare standards for all animals - including those in the wild. In recognition of concerns about the effectiveness of the current fox-hunting legislation, we asked one of Scotland's most senior judges, Lord Bonomy, to carry out a detailed review of the current position.

"We are now evaluating the responses to our consultation on his recommendations. A stakeholder group has already been established to develop a new code of practice and assess the feasibility of a new monitoring scheme."