THE government has been urged to seek a European wide ban on battery hens.

Leigh Labour MP Lawrence Cunliffe is appalled that they still produce the vast majority of eggs.

At Westminster, he has expressed concern that the birds are kept in cages so small that they are unable to stretch their wings let alone move around or peck and scratch at the ground.

He notes that battery hens are prevented from most natural activities such as perching, dust bathing and building nests for their eggs.

Mr Cunliffe is alarmed that lack of exercise produced hens with weak and brittle bones.

He is among 33 MPs who are calling for action after a European Commission Report, outlining the dangers of battery cages to the welfare of hens. He wants the government to persuade the European Union to prohibit the use of battery cages and free the hens from their captivity.

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