TONY Banks, the late Lord Stratford, has been posthumously commended for his services to animal welfare.

The Lord Houghton Award will be presented to his widow, Lady Stratford, by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) at a meeting of the Parliamentary All-Party Group on Animal Welfare on Monday.

Mr Banks, who was MP for West Ham between the 1983 and 2005 general elections, died on January 8 after suffering a stroke while on holiday in Florida.

He was a committed vegetarian and a passionate lifelong defender of animal rights.

A campaign against the culling of baby seals was launched in his memory.

A separate service in his honour will be held in the House of Lords today.

Lady Stratford said: "Tony was committed to the welfare of animals. In fact, he often declared that he preferred animals to people.

"Tony's passionate opposition to any form of animal cruelty was a driving force in our life.

"I am very proud of Tony and all he stood for and it is an honour to receive this award.

"Tony very much enjoyed his short time in the House of Lords and I am convinced that he would have continued campaigning for and securing vital parliamentary and media coverage for the protection of animals.

"His main focus for 2006 was to see an end to the annual Canadian seal hunt, which this year resulted in the deaths of over 325,000 baby seals, a campaign that I have taken up in his name."

Chris Deacon, chair of BUAV, said: "With the passing of Tony Banks, the animal protection movement lost one of its strongest advocates and greatest friends."