Trail hunting being used as 'smokescreen'

Hunting a fox with dogs has been illegal for 20 years

A senior police officer believes the ban on fox hunting is still regularly being broken 20 years after it was introduced.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the national lead on fox hunting crime, said hunts where hounds follow a pre-laid trail provided "a smokescreen".

But the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) accused him of "listening to the propaganda put out by our opponents".

The Labour government previously said it intended to tighten the ban to include trail hunting.

Hunting foxes with hounds became illegal in February 2005 following years of debate.

Hunt supporters warned it could hurt rural communities and cost thousands of jobs, but two decades on almost all the hunts are still operating.

There are 170 registered hound packs in England and Wales and a further eight in Scotland, according to The Masters of Foxhounds Association.

They adapted by taking up trail or "drag" hunting - getting staff to lay a trail, sometimes made from fox urine, which the hounds then follow.

But what happens when the dogs encounter a real fox is still controversial.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said he thought law breaking during hunting was widespread

The hunt is meant to call them off, but ACC Longman, who leads on hunting for the National Police Chiefs' Council, believes trail hunting "is providing a smokescreen".

He said it gave people the opportunity "to carry on hunting – as they always said they would when the ban came in 20 years ago".

ACC Longman believes illegality is widespread: "I don't accept that it's just a few bad eggs."

He said in all the cases he had reviewed, trail hunting had been used as a defence.

There have only been about 30 successful prosecutions of organised hunts under the Hunting Act, according to the BHSA.

The BHSA rejected the idea trail hunting was being used to mask illegality.

"He is listening to the propaganda put out by our opponents who claim that it is a smokescreen," said managing director Oliver Hughes.

Police are often asked to examine footage provided by the public, for example an incident near Taunton last month.

Eyewitness Wendy saw hunt staff and hounds in a field near her home. She believes the film she took shows them killing a fox.

An eyewitness said she thought dogs killed a fox near her home in Taunton

"You could see all the dogs in the pack tearing at something very large. The whole thing was absolutely horrendous," she said.

"I'm 99.9% certain it was a fox - by the remnants we found the next day."

She passed all the video on to Avon and Somerset Police, which said it was investigating.

While they do, the British Hound Sports Association said it would not comment.