Traditionalist MPs have dealt a blow to modernisers by voting to resume late night sittings on Tuesdays.

Ignoring appeals from Commons leader Peter Hain and other supporters of "family friendly" hours, the Commons voted by 292 to 225 for the later sittings.

The decision means that the current practice of starting the day at 11.30am on Tuesdays will now be abandoned in favour of a later 2.30pm start.

As a consequence, the day's sitting will now run until 10.30pm, or later depending on any votes or extended debates.

The change will be take effect after the next election.

During the preceding debate, Hain had championed the modernisation committee's recommendation that the new hours, which involve some earlier starts and finishes, be made permanent.

But to seek closure on the issue, his deputy Phil Woolas tabled a series of complex amendments allowing a vote on the resurrection of later Tuesday sittings.

Hain told MPs that to abandon the current hours would be "a significant step backwards".

And Robin Cook, a strong supporter of the modernised hours, said that earlier starts gave the "flexibility to sit longer".

Hain said it was not wise for MPs to conduct their business at times that could sometimes approach midnight.

"Is that a good time to make legislation? Is that a good time for members of parliament to be deciding on the laws of the land?" he asked.

"I do not think our constituents feel that we should be making the laws... absolutely knackered in the middle of the night."

Tough choices

Conservative MP Julian Lewis pointed to one drawback of the current hours, saying he had faced a "hard choice" in deciding whether or not to hear Hain's statement.

"Having been here for the previous statement, I have had to choose between having lunch and listening to him speak," Lewis said.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could both eat and listen to the opening speeches in major debates like this?"

Hain joked that one option would be to "bring a packed lunch" were it not against the rules of the house.

"Members of parliament always find it difficult to grab lunch if they are very busy," he added.

Shadow Commons leader Oliver Heald called on MPs to back a reversion to 2.30pm sittings on Tuesdays.

He said the debate "has really boiled down to whether Tuesday should return to its former hours".

Other changes to the Commons' sitting hours were made permanent.