Some 55 riders and a pack of hounds spent their day in pursuit of the fox, cluttering up the lanes and disturbing the peace of the countryside.

Surrounding Quebec Wood, a favourite haunt on these jaunts, riders scored brownie points by using their ritual cry and slapping whips against boots to drive a beautifully patterned fox - and the hounds - back into the woods.

This one may have lived to tell the tale - or may have gone to ground, to be dug out later and killed by terrier men. The last I saw of the hounds, they were apparently in pursuit of a hare.

A League Against Cruel Sports team went quietly about their business, photographing and videoing events.

The tax payer, meanwhile, was paying for the presence of several police vehicles, not to mention a conservative estimate of 15 to 20 police present for most of the day. And above us for some time the police surveillance plane.

The issue is not about killing foxes. If you believe it is necessary to kill a fox - and this is rarely the case - shooting is commonly accepted as the most humane method.

And no, before you ask, there is no evidence from rescue centres of foxes maimed by careless shooting. This is just another bit of hunt mythology.

The sooner the law outlaws the barbaric activities of the hunts, the sooner we can all enjoy the treasures of the countryside in peace.

And our valuable police resources can be deployed for more worthwhile activities.

NAME

and address supplied

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.