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David Cameron was under mounting pressure last night to explain why he wrote to the Government’s top lawyer after a pal was charged with fox hunting.

The Tory leader wrote to the Attorney General after his chum Julian Barnfield was told he was being prosecuted, according to the Daily Mail’s serialisation of Tory donor Lord Ashcoft’s book.

Reports at the time said that Barnfield was charged with three offences under the Hunting Act 2004.

The Tory chief allegedly wrote a letter on Barnfield’s behalf in June 2008 when he was Opposition Leader. The case was later dropped.

Lord Ashcroft quotes Chris Edgell, a former detective constable involved in the case, who tried to obtain a copy of the letter using the Freedom of Information Act.

Although Mr Edgell’s application was rejected, he said: “I have learned from CPS and police sources that Cameron’s letter to the Attorney General was sent on to CPS headquarters, who sent it on to Thames Valley CPS, who then sent it to Gloucester CPS, who then sent it on to the Complex Case Unit at Bristol, where barrister Kerry Barker dealt with it.

“I saw the letter. It said something like: ‘Is this really a productive use of police time?’”

In 2012, Barnfield, a member of the Heythrop Hunt, pleaded guilty to unlawful hunting after distressing footage of a fox being chased and ripped to shreds by hounds was caught on camera.

Campaigning Labour MP Paul Flynn said it was essential that the letter was released.

He said: “In an age is supposed openness and transparency, it is essential that we see the contents of this letter.

“We need to know why David Cameron intervened and what he said.

“It us crucial and very much in the public interest that this letter is released.”

(Image: Getty)

Tom Quinn, Campaigns Director for League Against Cruel Sports, said: “These revelations provide yet more evidence of the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to hunting, and what’s more they suggest a worrying disregard for the law.

“By riding to hounds on Boxing Day 2004, weeks after Parliament passed the hunting ban, Mr Cameron is clearly giving a metaphorical two fingers to the country’s strong disgust for hunting.

“And if reports of Mr Cameron’s personal intervention in the prosecution of a huntsman friend while Leader of the Opposition and a privy councillor are true, that’s even more concerning.

“Most recently, as Prime Minister, if his attempt to weaken the Hunting Act this summer had been successful, it would have wrecked the police’s and CPS’s ability to enforce the law.

“As his influence increases so do his attempts to undermine the law that eight out of 10 people support. Should we expect this of our Prime Minister?”