A cosmetics and soap store which sparked controversy in West towns by launching an anti-hunting campaign has been banned from continuing the campaign by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Chainstore Lush joined forces with the Hunt Saboteurs' Association for the campaign last year, which claimed that hunts were still breaking the law, the police were not enforcing it and even that hounds were fed with other dead hounds.

The campaign sparked outrage in the West, with hunt supporters travelling to protest at Lush stores in Taunton, Bath and Bristol.

The ASA received 129 complaints about the campaign, which was supported by a 'Mrs Fox Bubble Bar', the proceeds of which went to the hunt saboteurs.

The ASA upheld three of the nine different complaints associated with the ad and sales campaign, and said the other six Lush and the HSA were allowed to state.

Crucially, a complaint by pro-hunters that a Lush claim that 75 per cent of the population wanted to see hunting banned was thrown out.

But the ASA did uphold a complaint that Lush was misleading the public by claiming 'the hunts are still at it!'.

"We considered that evidence was not sufficiently robust to support the claims that hunts were intentionally and frequently breaking the law," the ASA judgement stated. "We therefore concluded that the claims had not been substantiated and were misleading."

Other claims that the police were not upholding the hunting act, and that hunts fed dead hounds to other hounds were unsupportable, the ASA said, but complaints the Lush campaign was aimed at all forms of hunting, or advocated violence, were dismissed.

The Countryside Alliance, hailed the findings as a victory, despite only three of nine complaints being upheld.

A CA spokesman said: "Lush has only itself to blame for working with an extreme organisation like the HSA that has a long history of inaccuracy and exaggeration."

Meanwhile, the impending 2010 hunting debate intensified this week with the three main anti-hunt lobby groups, IFAW, the League Against Cruel Sports and the RSPCA issuing a statement defending the hunt ban.

The three said they would be working together to lobby MPs when a vote on hunting is expected in the autumn.

The joint statement said: "We believe that repeal of the Hunting Act would be barbaric and a backward step for a civilised society. Hunting with dogs was consigned to the history books because the majority of the public found it abhorrent. Those calling for repeal of this law are effectively calling for a return to cruelty. We are calling on people to contact their MPs asking them to vote to protect the Hunting Act."