France is to outlaw trapping birds using sticks covered in glue after the European commission threatened legal action and fines.

The move was welcomed by campaigners who have described the practice as “barbaric” and who urged the French government not to bow to pressure from the powerful hunting lobby.

Hunters argue the method of trapping the birds, known as chasse à la glu, is a centuries-old rural tradition and say they are being persecuted.

Using glue sticks to catch birds has been outlawed in Europe since the 1979 Bird Directive, except in specific circumstances where the practice is “controlled, selective and in limited quantities”. Since 1989, France has invoked these circumstances to permit glue-trapping in five south-east departments on the grounds that it is “traditional”.