North Ayrshire and Arran MP Patricia Gibson has urged the UK Government to put a complete ban on the sale of fur.

The UK was the first country in the world to ban fur farming over 20 years ago, but imports and sales of the material are still allowed.

Mrs Gibson is now calling on lawmakers to go one step further and ban fur altogether, after attending a Fur Free Britain event hosted by Four Paws UK and Humane Society International (HSI).

She said: “Two decades after the last fur farm was closed down, the UK continues to allow imports of fur from animals farmed and trapped overseas, creating an unacceptable double-standard.

“It is truly awful that years after the UK banned fur farming, demonstrating a strong and unequivocal ethical stand against fur, we are now outsourcing our cruelty overseas.

“Four Paws UK has released a new report demonstrating the scale of abuse inherent in the trade and the role the UK continues to play in this cruelty.

“To illustrate the UK’s complicity in fur cruelty, HSI released new footage of multiple fur farms in China, revealing the extreme suffering endured by raccoon dogs, mink and foxes for fur fashion.

“Government data shows that the UK imports millions of pounds worth of fur from China every year.

“The future of fashion is fur free so the sooner we stop trading in cruelty the sooner the suffering overseas stops, and it is for that which I will continue to press the government at every opportunity.”