A cross-party committee of MPs has raised concerns about the government's plans to improve animal welfare protection.

The Commons environment, food and rural affairs select committee said the government should consider whether new protections against unnecessary cruelty should be extended to octopus, squid, cuttlefish, crabs, lobsters and crayfish.

They also warned that fishing could be inadvertently caught up in the existing legislation, with the use of fishing hooks leaving anglers open to charges of mutilation.

"We therefore doubt the government's position that the draft bill would be unlikely to have any impact on traditional fishing or angling practices," said the report.